Faith's Nightmare
by ReconditeAgony
Summary: Faith Knight, her older brother Doug, and their parents move to Springwood, not entirely expecting much apart from strange tales of a killer, though believing it's nothing more than a scary story However, Doug and Faith end up on the receiving end of horrendous nightmares as they meet new people, only to watch them die. Will Doug and Faith destroy the notorious Freddy Krueger?
1. The Move

_Elm Street in Springwood, a place that I didn't think much of. However, one day, that all changed._

*Faith's POV*

You've ever seen though sunny days that look a little darker than usual? That was what I felt as the summer breeze hit through just when the movers finished putting in the last of the boxes in the moving truck.

"What's the street?" I heard one of the movers ask.

"Elm Street, that's in Springwood," I heard the voice of my mother reply to him.

I was definitely going to miss being here, even though I felt rather indifferent about the move. I wasn't mad. I was going to miss my friends but at least I would be able to text them.

I just took once more look at the front of the simple stone-built house until I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

I at first assumed it was my mother but I just turned around, only to jump and gasp when it wasn't my mother.

"What the heck, Doug?" I gasped as I heard him laugh.

"Sorry about that," he laughed. "Dad was just telling me that I should scare you, little sis, even though at first, I kinda didn't want to."

I let out a heavy sigh before deciding to laugh along with him.

"Alright, you win this one," I replied, giving him a nudge on the rib.

"Thanks, sis," he said, fixing his straight and messy brown hair. "But I personally wouldn't want to scare you like that."

I smiled at him before fixing my wavy black hair. Even though he was told to occasionally scare me, he was still very protective of me because both of our parents worked during the day. My father was a banker and my mother worked for a spa.

My brother Douglas (he preferred to be called Doug) was nineteen, soon to start as a freshman in college. He was tall and buff with bold hazel eyes that were enough to convince you that you were okay after a bad dream or anything else.

I, Faith, on the other hand, was much shorter, fifteen years old, and soon to start as a sophomore in high school. I had a few curves, a little more than the average "all the right curves" kind of girl and blue eyes.

I turned to my parents who were talking to each other.

My mother, Layla, had an almost perfect figure with most of the curves in their right spots, curly brown hair, and green eyes. Some even considered her the almost ideal Barbie doll type figure, minus the curly brown hair. She was also quite taller than me for sure.

My father, Damien, on the other hand was a little less muscular than Doug but he still was quite tall, although shorter than Doug but taller than my mom.

It was Mom who turned to me, smiling at me, her smile so perfect that it was almost unsettling.

"You kids ready to move?" she asked in an enthusiastic voice.

I turned to Doug, who gave her a nod. I turned back to Mom then nodded to her. I didn't give much thought to moving, other than missing my friends.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Dad said. "I know my car is already at the new house—"

"Where exactly is the new house?" I asked curiously.

"It's in Springwood, on a street called Elm Street," Mom replied. "There's some scary tales about it."

My eyes widened in shock. Hearing "scary tales" so casually like that didn't put my mind at ease at all. I had a very active imagination which of course had all sorts of things running through my head.

"We'll discuss it later," Mom suggested. "We'll just head on over there. Your father and I'll head in my car. And Doug, you can take Faith in your truck."

"Oh hell yes, I will," Doug said happily.

"Damn, Doug," Dad chuckled. "No wonder why you've gotten to close to Faith, as to why she leans to you."

Doug chuckled along with him before we waved goodbye that we'd see each other soon.

Springwood was about an hour and a half from this house so I knew it wouldn't be excruciatingly long.

I went ahead and got in the passenger seat of the truck just before Doug got in driver's seat. The drive should be fun, and no, I wasn't being sarcastic.

*Layla's POV*

I turned on the ignition to my car when something rang inside of my head. A story that I remembered quite well, same for my husband. I didn't remember if I had told Doug or not. Faith though definitely didn't know about it.

"Damien," I said, just before I pulled away from the driveway. "Did we ever tell Damien about what had happened on Elm Street?"

"Yes we did, when he was around fifteen," he replied. "What is it, honey?"

"I'm wondering if we should tell Faith about it," I wondered out loud. "I think she should know about it because I'd hate to keep her in the dark about it."

"You're right," Damien replied. "She's already a teenager and it was the teenagers that fell victim to this guy. He's a fucking creep."

I couldn't hold back a giggle that immediately escaped from my lips. Damien can be quite funny with his foul language.

"Oh shit, the kids haven't seen the new house," I gasped.

"Of course they haven't," Damien replied. "It's best to keep it a surprise from them. It's a nice house, honestly. The kids will like it a lot."

"Yes," I smiled. "Good thing we already got Doug signed up for college, and Faith's classes are set. But, who's gonna take Faith to school because she doesn't have a license yet?"

"I'm sure Doug will," Damien replied. "The college that he's going to isn't too far from here. Hell, I'm even surprised that he's starting at a junior college before going to a university but I understand that he wants us to save money. God damn, college being expensive as these days."

"You're damn right," I said. "You and I wouldn't be able to anyway. Besides, I just realized that I've never seen Doug and Faith get into a fight at all in their lives."

"You know how Doug is," Damien said. "He's just protective of his little sister."

I nodded before nudging him on the shoulder. I was certain that this was going to be our entire conversation before getting to the new house.

*Faith's POV*

We were already over halfway through before making it to Springwood, and Elm Street wasn't too far. I was almost nervous though. I didn't know exactly what to expect but at the same time, I didn't expect much.

"Oh seriously? What the fuck bro?" Doug groaned, seemingly to the car in front of him. "You might as well get your ass off of the road! Swerving like that, not on my watch!"

I almost couldn't hold back the bit of laughter. Doug never got angry at me but when he gets angry at all, it was usually at shitty drivers.

"Sorry about that Faith," he apologized. "Bad drivers on the road."

"Not surprising," I smirked. "What else?"

Doug just shrugged in response as I leaned against my seat, pondering quite carefully.

"Have you ever trusted yourself to read really bad fanfiction?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I remember one of my buddies told me about one called 'My Immortal' which I read and it's terrible," Doug replied. "Reading bad fanfiction can mess with your head if you have an active imagination. Even though I don't, the story was wild."

"Understandable," I said. "But now, subject change. Do you have anything thoughts about moving to Springwood?"

Doug seemed to ponder this quite carefully and I didn't want to ask again.

"Springwood shouldn't be too bad," he finally said. "It might seem a little different but hey, I'm in for it."

"I see," I smiled. "At least you seem quite optimistic about it."

He just laughed when I said this. Surely, I knew what he was thinking. He was probably excited to see what we were in for.

Suddenly, some kind of memory began to replay inside of my head, something that Mom said. One that suddenly didn't want to leave my head. I figured maybe I could ask Doug at least what I needed to know for now until it was time for me to know the full thing.

"Um... Doug?" I said, my voice sounding small.

"Yes?" he wondered.

"Remember when Mom said that there was freaky stuff that happened on Elm Street?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I wonder what she meant by freaky stuff," I said.

"I'll let Mom and Dad tell you the full story but it's some pretty terrible shit that happened many years ago," he said. "I've heard the story and it's the creepiest shit I've heard in my entire life."

"Did you have any nightmares about what you heard?" I asked.

"Only once but it was pretty tame," he replied. "I wasn't massively bothered. It doesn't bother me anymore. But now, the concern is on you. After hearing the story, if you happen to have a nightmare, just know I'm here."

"Thanks man," I smiled. "I feel a little better about that."

"That stereotype when the eldest sibling pretty much tries to tease the shit out of the youngest sibling, fuck that. I'm doing my part when Mom and Dad can't do it in person."

"Of course."

Doug was just about to say another word when I heard a sudden ring tone. It startled me at first before I checked to see if it was my phone. It wasn't.

"It might be my phone," Doug said.

I found his phone on the front cup holder of the car then noticed who was calling him.

"It's Mom," I said.

He gave me a nod to go ahead and answer it. I slid the unlock key to answer the phone. I went ahead and put it on speaker because I was sure Doug would want to hear what Mom had to say.

"Hey Mom," Doug smiled.

"Hey," she replied. "Anyway, we're thirty minutes away from the new house."

"Oh damn, that's closer than I thought," I said, surprised.

"I wanted to tell you that but that's not why I'm calling," Mom said. "Your father got invited to a new welcome party for his new job and I'm also invited. Doug, I know you know the drill but take care of Faith overnight. We'll be back in the new house tomorrow in the afternoon."

"Sure thing," Doug nodded.

They said their goodbyes before Doug hung up.

"Well, damn," he laughed. "Mom and Dad will have to experience being in the new house tomorrow."

"Yep," I smirked.

We continued to head our way to Springwood as Doug and I continued our usual random conversation. It was already fun but the fun would continue on.


	2. Elm Street

*Faith's POV*

"Oh shit, we're on Elm Street," Doug said, surprised, as we followed Mom's car to the house that was on this very street.

It wasn't long when we stopped at a what looked to be a two story house. Like our old house, it was mostly stone but this one looked newer, almost like it was built only a few years ago. The tan and brown colors seemed to blend in quite nicely.

"Oh, that's the new house," Doug whispered as he turned off the ignition of the truck. "It looks nicer than expected."

"Damn, I was thinking the exact same thing," I said, most surprised.

"We'll definitely have to check it out," Doug suggested as he opened the door to get out of the truck.

"True that," I said, doing the same thing.

Mom and Dad were already standing at the driveway, talking again. They stopped when Doug and I walked towards them.

"Oh hey, good that you two made it here," Mom smiled as she lightly patted Doug on the shoulder. "Let's just go in and we'll discuss some things."

Mom and Dad led the way as Doug and I followed closely to them. The front door wasn't too far from us. It looked to be an elegant acacia wood with the glass looking simple but also quite fine.

Dad unlocked the door to this new house which only left me in awe, jaw dropped, eyes wide open, and just surprise at it. It was even hard to really kinda think straight.

I had to look around to really get my surroundings. The walls were painted a light gray that gave this house kinda a soft and simple feel to it. The spiral stairs were elegant but simple enough to not over fancy. The rails were a jet black color that messed well with the light gray carpet.

"Okay, this is honestly more incredible than I thought," I muttered, not entirely sure if anyone heard me.

"How about you kids check out upstairs," Mom suggested. "Then once we're finally settled in, we'll talk about some stuff."

Doug and I nodded as I went ahead and led the way. Despite my more curvy shape, I was surprisingly fast. Then again, I had known that ever since I first discovered it at age three.

The memory was just hilarious. Doug, who was eight at the time, was trying to catch me for a little chasing around game. I was too fast for him.

I refocused myself as I finally made it upstairs. The light and soft grey colored walls still continued through the hall. There were two doors, opposite of each other and something else further ahead.

"Sis, once again, you beat me to the second floor," Doug laughed from behind me.

I laughed along with him, remembering the memories. I was surprised that even to this day, I still beat him to something. But, something popped inside of my head.

"Well, the stairs are kinda narrow so I can't just get an unfair advantage," I smirked.

"Ditto."

We just laughed again. Damn, Doug surely did make me laugh when he had the chance, which was a lot of times.

"Alright, let's see what this is all about," I suggested.

"Yes you're right," he replied.

We walked to the two doors which lead to two rooms across from each other. We ended up taking a peek in each one, trying to decide which room to claim.

The one on the left looked quite big, however this time, the walls were painted a dark but soft colored green. There were two doors in the room adjacent of each other. At this point, it was already kinda obvious who would take this.

"Doug, it's all yours," I said as I turned to the room on the right.

It looked a bit smaller than the room on the left but that didn't matter to me. The walls were painted the most amazing shade of dark blue.

I was beyond pleased to see it and was about to look around a little bit when I heard a knock, sounding like someone was knocking the wall. I turned to see Doug who looked surprised.

"Sis, you should check out this area that's straight ahead," he said. "It's huge."

I went to leave my room, following Doug to the area straight ahead. I was certain that I didn't expect too much but when I walked in, oh in hell I was wrong.

This area had to at least combine my room and Doug's room into one, and maybe an extra square inch or so. The walls were painted a soft gray, much like downstairs but this place had more than enough room for the few things I remember having in our previous house.

"Okay, this is crazy huge," I said, looking around.

I was just about to look around this area some more when I heard some footsteps coming upstairs.

Doug and I retreated to our new rooms quickly then waited patiently for the movers. This was going to be interesting.


	3. The Tale

*Faith's POV*

The movers had finished putting things where my family and I wanted them to go. We waved our goodbyes to them before we turned to each other.

"Man, we have a lot to discuss here," Mom said. "Faith, I already scheduled you for a drivers' test in a few days but your car will be here just a day after. You'll love it."

I was surprised when I heard this. I was certain that most people would start that process at the age of sixteen but before I would say anything, Mom went to continue speaking.

"Oh, you're already far advanced ahead."

I nodded, still a bit surprised but I decided not to argue. It was better to be grateful for what would happen than argue. But then again, I was never really the one to argue.

"Honey, we'll need to leave in about fifteen minutes," I heard Dad say from the kitchen.

"I'm already ready honey," Mom replied. "We just need to tell Faith that tale."

"Oh shit, yes," Dad replied. "Let's just get that through before we leave."

Suddenly, I remembered when Mom had said that "freaky stuff" happened here. It just rung inside of my head, leaving me a bit anxious.

Mom turned to me as I gave her my absolute attention. I was determined to know what freaky stuff happened.

"Oh Faith, there was a tale about this man long ago," Mom said. "There was a man named Fredrick Charles Krueger. He goes by Freddy Krueger. He worked at a power plant and had a wife and kids. Even though he had a happy life, there was a dark side to him. He captured children and took him to the boiler room of the power plant where he worked at. He would torture them then kill them. He was called the Springwood Slasher. His wife had found out about this but he killed her. He was arrested but the warrant was signed in the wrong place and the judge was drunk. Because of this, Freddy was let go. The towns people were furious over this so they corner him in his lair, pouring gasoline on him then set him on fire. However, the dream demons welcomed him and he accepted, then being able to hurt and even kill people in the dream world, which can actually be shown in the real world. He wore a red and green stripped sweater that's been kinda ruined, brown pants, black boots, a fedora hat, and the famous finger-bladed gloves. In the year of 1982, Freddy entered the dreams of four teenagers named Tina, Rod, Glen, and Nancy. He killed Tina, Rod, and Glen but Nancy was able to defeat him. However, Freddy did kill Nancy five years later. He had been tormenting and killing kids and maybe some adults in the process. However, his daughter Maggie ultimately defeated him. It's been said that he's been dead for a long time but some believe he was accidentally brought back when another killer named Jason Voorhees was around."

"Holy shit," I gasped, trying to process everything I just heard. "Do you believe that he's alive or dead?"

Mom seemed to look up, her eyes had a hint of distress and her expression was serious. This didn't seem like a good sign and I was scared for her.

"I'd like to believe that he's dead," she said as she turned her attention to me again. "It's easier that way. However, two of the people who confronted Freddy was my mother and father, your grandparents. They had done it when I was very young. He tortured me but my parents, sisters, brother, and I moved out of Springwood before he was defeated. But to this day, thinking about him scares me. The reason we moved here is because I was offered a job here. I was hesitant at first but I took it. It's easier than driving a long way from home."

I nodded, showing that I understood her. The entire story was already playing in my head, almost overwhelming me.

Mom got her purse then turned to me and Doug.

"Oh, we'll be out," she said. "We'll see you two in the morning."

She and Dad closed the front door, leaving me and Doug alone in the living room. I was certain that I had a lot to say about Mom's story about this Freddy Krueger.

I turned to Doug who seemed rather surprised. I didn't know why he looked surprised but I didn't ask.

"I didn't think you'd take that quite calmly," he said. "I was sure you'd be afraid, even though Mom believes that he's dead."

I nodded, agreeing with him. Perhaps I was quite surprised that I took it quite well. I was sure that I'd freak out a bit, considering that I would scare a little more easily than Doug. At the same time, I was still imagining it all inside of my head.

"I can easily imagine all of the shit gone on with Mom," I said.

Doug nodded understandably just before fetching his phone out of his pocket.

I shrugged before digging my phone out from my pocket, just flat out curious if any of my friends had texted me. I had put my phone on silent, not allowing it vibrate at all when someone called or texted me. I always hated hearing it vibrate because it was annoying as hell.

I noticed two texts were there. The first one was from one of my friends, Mallory Rayne. The second one came from Mom.

I slid my phone to unlock it, deciding to check Mom's text first. It was better to check texts from my family first before my friends, not that I hated my friends at all. I opened it and noticed that it was a group text between Mom, me and Doug.

 _I didn't get to tell you two this. You can get take-out tonight. Also, I just heard that a teenager died in the neighborhood. He had gashes on his stomach. The police are now trying to investigate the issue. Just be careful._

My eyes widened in shock, now wanting to know who did this.

"Faith, did you see Mom's text?" Doug asked as I looked up at him.

"Yes," I replied. "How sad. But, something sounds really weird."

Doug looked like he was pondering this rather carefully.

"You might be right," he replied. "Although I'd say we should discuss it later."

I nodded in agreement. We just agreed to save the conversation about the teenagers death before bed. None of us really had a desire for it to ring inside of our heads for the rest of the evening.


	4. The Nightmare

*Faith's POV*

After dinner, I went to my room then look on the internet from my phone to see the news about what Mom had said earlier today.

As I slid my phone to unlock it, I had just realized that I was so wrapped up in Mom's texts that I had completely forgotten to check the text message from my friend, Mallory. I went ahead and checked the text from her.

 _Hey girl! How is Springwood? I miss ya!_

It was simple but sweet. I went ahead and decided to reply before checking the news on the internet.

 _Hey! Springwood isn't much. Other than I've heard of tales from long ago about stone who killed people in their dreams but my mom is convinced that he's dead. Other than that, Springwood is fine. I'm gonna have a driver's test. I'm excited!_

I sent the text before going onto Google from Safari. I typed in "Springwood News" before seeing the news story.

 **Springwood Teen Killed**

 _There is no one responsible for the death of 17 year old Weston Heights. Police are trying to investigate the situation but the cause is unknown. Heights's mother, Julia, went to check on him while he was taking a nap when she saw gashes on his abdomen and blood pouring out of it. She immediately called police._

"Holy shit!" I gasped.

Before I could finish the article, a sudden thought came up inside of my head. One that I almost dreaded and one that Mom would be horrified about but I couldn't leave the sudden theory hidden.

I quickly climbed out of my bed to Doug's room when I saw him typing on his phone. I had to tell him now.

"Doug," I said. "You need to come here. I think I have a theory about what Mom told us earlier."

Doug looked up then quickly came to the hallway where I was standing. He looked rather surprised.

"What is it?" he asked.

I took a deep breath before speaking.

"Remember the tale of Freddy Krueger when he killed the teens?" I asked.

He nodded.

"There's something about this article that's giving me a clearer theory," I continued. "I was just thinking it before reading the article but it's really starting to tell me more and more that this might be connecting to something else. Weston's mother, Julia said that she found gashes on Weston's abdomen and blood pouring out. This is no job of an ordinary serial killer. This one looks more sinister. And I'm thinking that Weston didn't hurt himself during his sleep."

It was almost difficult for me to say the last eight words but it was easily making more and more sense.

"F-F-Freddy K-K-K-Krueger is b-back," I stuttered, suddenly feeling myself trembling at the thought. "Freddy Krueger is alive."

My own words made me gasp as the air around me grew cold. I couldn't hold back the horror in my eyes as I tried to process everything.

I noticed Doug's eyes went wide as he put his arms around me in a comforting manner.

"If this is true, then we're fucked," he said.

I nodded, too stunned to say anything.

"Why don't you just get some sleep," Doug suggested. "I know it's hard to process."

I nodded, still not saying a word. It was all too much for me to handle, with it all in my head. I just didn't know what to think.

Doug went to help me to bed, without saying a word until I was already tucked into bed.

"Just know that if you have a nightmare, flag me down," he said.

I nodded before he left my room, turning off the light on the way.

Everything that I had theorized began to run inside of my head again. Maybe I needed to get some sleep before I'd burn myself out from everything. Too much thinking, even for me.

I shook my head as I put my phone on my nightstand. I fell asleep almost immediately.

—

 _ **Dream**_

I found myself in an unfamiliar boiler room. Sweat poured out from my face as I tried to get a better idea about my surroundings. It was hot in here. I didn't like it.

BANG!

"What the hell?" I wondered.

I walked down the hall which looked more like a maze as I wiped the sweat from my face. I didn't want to just stand there.

I looked around before continuing to tip toe my way through this maze. However, I think I had caused a disturbance.

"Looking for me?" a dark, evil, and sinister voice asked.

I looked around when I heard the voice. Who the hell was it? I wasn't so sure.

"I wouldn't go anywhere if I were you," the voice continued. "I want to see you first."

The cold nature of his voice left a shiver on my spine. I kept looking around but this time, I chose to stay in place. I was worried that if I took another step, I would be dead on the spot.

"Who's there?" I asked, fighting to make myself sound brave.

I wasn't the bravest person in the world but when I was left alone to face whatever scared me, I had to put on the bravest face that I could.

"Yes, you're doing quite well," the voice said, his voice sounding like it was much closer to me now. "All you need to do is to turn around so that I'll get an even better glimpse of you."

I slowly turned around to come face to face with a man with burns on his skin and a smile so seductive that it made me sick to my stomach.

He was wearing a red and green striped sweater that was torn at the collar, the end of each sleeve, and the bottom of the shirt. He wore brown pants and a brown fedora hat.

What seemed to be the most profound thing about him was a gloved hand with long knives.

I jumped at his sudden presence. But at the same time, something began to ring inside of my head. Everything that Mom had told me earlier was suddenly coming to light. Was this the man she talked about?

"Who are you?" I asked, not wanting to risk possibly getting it wrong.

"The name is Freddy Krueger, baby cheeks," he smiled.

I gasped when he said it. This was the same man who Mom wanted to believe as dead.

"So you're the one who my mother talked about?"

He nodded.

"And you killed Weston Heights?"

He nodded again before speaking.

"It was far too easy to kill him. As for Layla, I've waited for years!"

"What the hell...?" I gasped.

"Shhh!" he hissed as he pinned me against the wall that was close to me. "You don't need to panic, precious. I will take care of you."

"Get off of me, you bastard!" I shouted as I struggled to get away from his strong grip.

"Don't make me hurt you!" he sneered as he held onto me tighter. "Struggling won't help you in this dream."

He traced a finger blade on my right arm, causing a cut to form and blood to ooze out of it.

The pain was sharp as it managed to pull me into its current, courtesy of Freddy Krueger.

I didn't hold back my scream of agony as he smiled. I could already tell he was enjoying my suffering. It was his entertainment.

I wanted to wake up so badly so that I wouldn't experience the pain anymore but Freddy was still having fun with me. It was obvious that he thirsted for me, especially by the way he was enjoying me cry out in pain.

Despite that, I was desperate to fight back. I didn't want to be stuck in his hands. He had done more than enough damage to me, physically. I just wanted it all to stop.

"Get off of me, you idiot!" I cried, struggling to get away from him.

He didn't. He just curiously looked at me, as if he were trying to find a new area of me for him to feast on. He traced his blood-covered bladed finger onto my neck. Like before, the blood began to pour out and the sharp pain came but this time, it was brutal.

My cries were louder than before as he just smiled. Oh god, I knew he was enjoying my agony but if he enjoyed my cries of pain, I would do anything I could to kick his ass.

"Faith, you are my toy," he jeered, wearing that shit-eating grin.

At that moment, I opened my eyes.

—

I gasped when I woke up, sweating and in sharp stinging pain. I was back in my room, no longer in the boiler room. Nothing in here was very unsettling.

However, I noticed that on my right arm, there was some dried blood and a noticeable cut that looked like it might had gotten some depth. I could really tell because it was dark inside of my room.

 _Faith, you are my toy._

Those words rang inside of my head as I tried to take a look at my surroundings, hoping that Freddy didn't show up. However, I noticed a tall figure standing next to me on the right side of the bed.

I almost screamed when I saw this figure but the figure turned on my lamp just for me to get a better glance at him. It was just Doug.

"Whoa, hold on, it's just me," he reassured me as he gave me a hug.

I had to tell him about the nightmare.

"Freddy Krueger!" I gasped, shuddering at hearing his name. "He was in my dream! He said that I was his toy."

Doug just shuddered before looking at my bloodied arm.

"Oh fuck!" he cried. "What the hell did he do to you? And I was sure this fucker wasn't real."

He examined the cut on my arm, eyes wide with worry.

"Shit," he muttered. "This has some depth."

He looked at me, more worried than ever. It wasn't even news. I've seen his worried expression all too well and many times.

"Wait here," he said. "I'm gonna find some stuff for that cut."

I nodded just before he ran out of my room. I was alone again.

Then the questions ran inside of my head. Why did Freddy Krueger want me so much? What did he want from me? And most importantly, why did Mom even tell me about this man and possibly put me in danger?

I knew that I had to ask her when she came back. Usually, I was never the one to question my mom's approaches but this time, I wasn't going to sit in the back and just let it slide.

 _Faith, you are my toy._

I shook my head as I took out a small notebook and a pencil from my nightstand. Those words had to tell me something. It was more than the obvious.

I quickly wrote down the five words before throwing my pencil back on my nightstand. I just read the words out loud.

 _Faith, you are my toy._

I ripped the written page out of the notebook before I threw it back on my nightstand. What was I going to do?

I heard footsteps getting closer and closer. I told myself not to get paranoid because I was sure it was Doug but in the back of my my mind, I wasn't so sure. The dream was all too real and if Freddy was really in this house, there would be hell to pay.

Good thing it was Doug who just entered my room, his hands full of medical supplies. Shit, I knew we were damn stacked with that.

I kept debating to myself on whether I should show the note to Doug or if I should keep it to myself. I would normally tell Doug many things but what if this was too much for him?

I decided that this was not something to hide. Keeping a secret from my own family members, let alone my own brother, wouldn't end too well.

"Doug?" I said as I watched him place the supplies on my nightstand.

He had a curious look on his face. However, this curiosity wasn't just typical curiosity. This was more serious curiosity.

"In my dream, Freddy said something," I said, my voice almost shaking. "I mean, he said many things but one thing that he said really stuck out to me. I wrote it down on a sheet of paper while you went to go get the stuff."

I took out the paper that I had written the words on earlier then gave the sheet to him.

The expression in his eyes were wide in shock, like he was afraid for me. Without saying a word, he gave me a protective hug. It was quite easy for me to tell why.

"Fuck, it scares me to see my little sister scared for her life," he replied worriedly. "Why is it always you?"

I shrugged.

He let me go before taking something from my nightstand. He carefully cleaned the wound on my arm that Freddy gave me.

"If Freddy comes for you too, we're screwed," I said, shaking my head.

I was just about to say something else when something rang inside of my head. It gave me plentiful of ideas.

"Unless if we work on something to stop him," I said, my eyes lighting up. "We would just have to do a lot of research."

Doug stopped, jaw dropped in surprised.

"Faith, you are brilliant!" he complimented. "We do need to figure what we can about this guy."

"And then we need to create a plan to defeat him, based on the research about him," I finished, nodding.

Doug smiled at my thought. Even though we were a pretty smart bunch, I was more of the smarter one of the siblings. Doug always found it pretty interesting that I had a pretty sharp brain.

Doug continued to fix my wounds pretty easily. I was surprised at how he managed to do it. I expected to be a lot of stinging pain but there was only a small hint of it.

After he finished bandaging up the wounds, he stayed for a while until I was able to sleep at peace again. However, I still had my worries. I was worried that now Doug would see the same man in his dreams.

Regardless, I had a dreamless rest of the night. I just hoped the same went for my brother.


	5. Doug's Encounter

*Doug's POV*

After Faith was asleep, I turned to head to my room. I didn't want to think about this horrible man that haunted my sister.

For the longest time, I was convinced that it was just a scary story. After hearing what had happened to Faith, I wasn't so sure.

I climbed into my bed, frustrated about what to think about the whole thing. Maybe if I just clocked off for the rest of the night, I would be sure that he was just a fucking fantasy character.

I shut my eyes, hoping for nothing but for my sister to be safe.

 **Dream**

I opened my eyes to see the long road ahead of me. I wasn't the least bit surprised. I had always dreamed about long roads, possibly because I liked long roads.

However, my own train of thoughts were interrupted when the sound of dark laughter erupted the air.

 _What the fuck was that?_

I didn't know what to think when I heard it but I was determined who it was that was laughing.

"Don't think about running away from me," the voice said. "I suggest you turn around."

Without a second thought, I turned around to see a man with burnt skin, a red and green sweater that looked like it was ripped a bit, brown pants, black boots, and a brown fedora hat.

My eyes widened in shock. If this was the exact man who Mom and Faith had described, oh shit.

"Wait a second," I said, peering a bit more closely at the man. "You must be Freddy Krueger."

"Oh, yes, you are right, Doug," he laughed as he raised a finger blade.

I fucking knew it. He was the man who attacked Faith. Now, I was going to make him pay for this.

Anger set inside of me. I knew that if anyone tried to try anything to Faith, I wasn't going to hesitate to retaliate.

"You asshole!" I shouted as I pushed him back, rather hard.

He didn't look amused at my actions. He just took a step closer to me as he raised up his bladed finger once again. The same blade that hurt Faith.

"Think you're so tough?" he sneered. "Just you wait before I get to see how valuable you are to play with. And for sure, Faith is at my top list."

"You attacked Faith!" I shouted. "You're going to fucking pay for what you've done, you bastard!"

Freddy just laughed at my threat. This time, it was enough to make me feel a bit afraid.

"Keep at it, Doug," he laughed. "You amuse me. Let me see what you're made of."

He traced his blades finger against my arm, a stinging and searing pain following that.

"FUCK!" I screamed, unable to hold back the pain in it.

Freddy was laughing at me, laughing at my pain. Laughing at my anger towards him, laughing at my worry for Faith. He just laughed.

"Well that's just fucking perfect," he smiled. "Not quite where I want it but close enough to Faith. I'll have a decent amount of fun playing with you, asshat."

I shook my head when he said this. I felt less confident with threatening him but I was determined to hear why he attacked Faith.

"I'm not interesting in your little games," I snapped. "I want to know why you decide to attack my little sister. Why the fuck do you do it?"

"Oh, Faith?" Freddy laughed. "I will tell you this. She is a special one. Playing with her is like playing with my favorite toy. She's like a gift to me. And those curves on her make me weak."

I shook my head once again when I heard this. Sure, I didn't mind if anyone around her age commenting about her but Freddy was getting on the beyond creepy level. I knew more than enough about pedophiles to know that his words were beyond disgusting. Faith was only a child. Plus, by the looks of it, he was much older than her, even older than me.

"You fucking asshole!" I shouted. "She's only fifteen!"

Freddy just laughed. It was obvious that he was amused over my responses. It only angered me more, giving me a stronger urge to fight him, keeping him far away to keep my family safe.

"What if I told you that I don't give any shits," he sneered. "She's more fun to play with. I would love to play with her a little more before I decide to kill her."

I was furious with him. If he was already plotting to kill Faith, that would be more than enough to set me off. He had entered the wrong side of me and he was going to pay. I punched him in the face without hesitation.

Freddy doubled back, looking rather surprised at my reaction. After regaining his balance, he pushed me against a nearby brick wall. I gasped when he did this.

"You really think I would really be amused with what you just did?" he sneered. "You didn't amuse me that that even though you do amuse me. Your dream amuses me. Perhaps next time, I will actually get a taste of Faith."

The last eleven words made me sick to my stomach. Was I afraid? Yes, afraid for my sister, afraid for my family, afraid for myself. Freddy had gone too way too far this time.

"I'm not afraid of you, fuck head!" I shouted, struggling against his hold. "I'm afraid of what you're going to do to Faith! You better not put your hands on her!"

"Oh we'll see about that, Doug," Freddy laughed as he traced his bladed glove, now with some blood on it, against my cheek.

I fought the urge to scream at the pain before something else happened.

—

My eyes opened wide as I panted, looking at my surroundings. Turns out that I was back in my room where I was before. Thank goodness.

I looked at my arm to see the same wound that Freddy Krueger gave me, almost similar to Faith's. Oh fucking great.

Without even thinking, my hand touched my cheek, suddenly feeling a slightly wet sensation. I pulled my hand away to notice that it was red with blood. Fucking brilliant.

I turned to my alarm clock to check the time which read 6:45 am. After everything that happened, I didn't want to go back to sleep. There was no way I was going to face that asshat of a stalker like Freddy Krueger. There wasn't any point anyway.

Everything that he said hit me with a bang. He wanted to play with Faith more than he wanted to play with me. He seemed like an outright pedophile, especially with how he spoke of her.

Frustrated, I kicked the covers then headed for my bathroom, not wanting to wake up Faith over my footsteps because I knew she had left the door to her room open.

After I entered my bathroom, I quietly shut the door then turned on the light. The light blinded me for a few seconds before I began to get used to it. Now this would help me get a better look at the wounds that Freddy gave me.

The blood on both wounds seemed to have dried a bit but they still needed cleaning and bandaging up. But, I suddenly realized something.

"Oh fuck!" I hissed, facepalming. "I left the damn container in Faith's room!"

I could just wait until Faith woke up but something else told me that I shouldn't. That I should fix these cuts now before anything bad happened.

I turned off the light then opened the door, all while hoping I wouldn't wake up Faith.

I quietly walked out of my room and into the hall to find Faith's room. I made sure to be as quiet as possible, not saying that she was easily disturbed.

I entered her room where she was sleeping peacefully. It put me at ease that she wasn't in a dream or anything.

I turned to see the medic supply container that was standing on top of Faith's nightstand. I took it, still trying to be quiet, before heading back to my room and into the bathroom. I shut the door before turning on the light, once again, the light blinding me for a few seconds.

"Oh shit, I hope it doesn't hurt," I muttered nervously as I opened the container, looking inside to see what I should take.

I ended up taking the bandages that I used earlier. I first cleaned the cuts before bandaging them up.

Much better.

The entire thing didn't even hurt.

I shut the container closed before leaving the bathroom, turning off the light in the process. I then sat down on my bed and pondered about everything that went on last night.

First it was Faith, now me. Why would Freddy target me and my sister?


	6. A Conversation

*Faith's POV*

I had just woken up, the time on my phone reading 8:30 am. I just laughed quietly to myself, pleased that I went through the rest of the night without any disturbance from Freddy.

I kicked off the sheets, still thinking about the dream last night. I was deep in thought about it that I almost didn't notice that the medic supply container was gone. I assumed that Doug must have put it back in its original place when I was still sleeping.

My thoughts suddenly turned to Doug. I wondered if he saw the same man. If he did, I hoped he didn't get hurt like I did. Despite my quite strong fear of Freddy, I wouldn't be shy to attempt to kick his ass.

I got out of my bed to see Doug just standing in the hall against the wall, shaking his head in disbelief. I noticed that he was bandaged on his arm and his cheek was bandaged up. Oh damn.

"Damn, Doug, what happened to you?" I asked.

He turned to me and his eyes were full of worry. Something was up. Usually every morning, he's quite cheerful. But today, it was different.

"That fucker," he whispered. "Freddy Krueger. He got me too. However, he's obsessed with you. He sounds like a fucking pedophile."

I fucking knew it. Freddy got to Doug who told him how much he thirsted for me. Instead of freaking out like I thought, I pondered deeply about this.

It was at that instant when it hit me. I was determined to get to the bottom of this. I wanted answers.

Even though I wasn't the bravest person here, I wasn't going to back down over the thought that I could possibly get some answers from Freddy, himself. Perhaps it could get me into more danger but if I get the answers, it would be easier for me and Doug to be able to stop him.

"Doug," I said. "I know you're not gonna like this idea but if we're gonna stop him, I have to do this. When we sleep tonight, I'm going to get some answers from Freddy on why he's torturing us."

Doug's eyes went wide with shock. I could tell he seemed horrified at the idea.

"Faith," he said. "I'm scared for you. That fucker wants you. He's basically craving you."

"That's exactly why I'm going to get answers from him tonight," I replied. "After that's done, we research about the guy. If there's anyone who knows him or saw him who's still around, maybe we can get answers from them as well. I know it's gonna be tough and yes, I may not be the bravest but this will do us well. Maybe even Mom can give us some answers so at least we have starting clues."

Doug's expression changed to being a bit more at ease. He nodded in agreement.

"Shit," he said. "I forget that you sometimes don't mind facing your nightmares. But alright, I trust you on this."

Immediately after that, I heard a familiar ringtone that almost made me jump. And I knew it couldn't be Doug's phone.

"That's mine," I said as I quickly went to my room to get my phone.

I checked to see who it was at first and saw it was Mom calling. I immediately answered it, putting it on speaker in the process.

"Hey Mom," I said as I headed back to the hall where Doug was.

"Hey Faith," she said. "I'm calling because we're we're five minutes away from home. We just got word that another teen was killed last night, pretty much in a similar fashion. We have the article for it and we'll share it with you."

"Speaking of which," Doug began. "We went into a bit of a predicament, ourselves, over a similar situation but we'll save the entire thing until you get home."

"Fuck," Mom muttered. "Also, the entire situation with two kids being murdered out of nowhere might be linked to something I have meant to tell you two since we got here."

Doug and I turned to each other, eyes wide with shock. We always knew for our whole lives that Mom would usually never keep such secrets or anything that she's held back from telling us for years but this sounded serious.

We said our goodbyes before I hung up the phone, shocked.

"Well, Doug," I began. "It looks like we're in for some truths."

He nodded as I hung my head in utter confusion. Something on Mom's end was going on that she wasn't telling us about. I didn't know what to think but regardless, I wasn't going to hate Mom from doing something that maybe she wasn't telling us.


	7. Vivid

**Author's Note: Hey guys. I've been noticing some growing concern for this fanfic and that. And yes, I am aware of those. Honestly, it is my first time tackling this fanfic and I've done wrestling fanfics for a long time but I figured I'd put something different. And I'm doing the best research I can in the time that I have to later develop the fic. Sorry this very chapter looks kinda rushed but the interesting stuff should come pretty soon. Thanks for bearing with me!**

*Faith's POV*

Doug and I turned to our rooms to quickly get dressed.

I closed the door to my room before walking to my closet, looking through my organized row of clothes. I pondered for a few moments before finally picking out what I wanted.

I pulled out a pair of jean shorts and a simple black blouse, my mind still racing about what Mom had to say. And why did she tell me about Freddy Krueger right away before I even knew who the hell he was?

I just quickly put my clothes on then decided to quickly check myself in the mirror. Eh, my hair was a little wild. I combed through it with my fingers before deciding it was good.

I was already out of my room just before Doug came out. I led the way downstairs and my thoughts continued to race.

"Whatever she has to say, it might just give us a new perspective about this Freddy guy," Doug said.

I turned to him then nodded in agreement. Whatever Mom had to say, it would give a new reason to refuse to be Freddy's toy, or at least I hoped that would be the case.

Just before I was about to say something, I heard some clicking, like someone was unlocking the door. The door opened to reveal my parents. I was finally put at ease, completely forgetting that Freddy ever harmed me and that the bandages on me were still exposed.

"Mom! Dad!" Doug and I cried in unison as we ran to hug them.

Dad shut the door behind him before he noticed the bandages on us. His eyes grew wide with concern.

"Oh no, what happened to you two?" he gasped.

"Freddy Krueger," Doug replied, shuddering. "He haunted our dreams last night. We think he might be the one who killed the two teenagers."

Mom pulled something out of her purse which showed a printed article then put it on the counter. I read it carefully.

 **Local teen, Chrystal Smith found dead in her bedroom in her sleep**

 _Chrystal Smith, according to her mother, Bayley Smith, had died her her sleep. Chrystal was found with several cuts on her abdomen. The cause of this is unknown as police are launching an investigation. Some reports say this might be linked to the recent death of Weston Heights. However, the answer is unknown. They both lived on the street of Elm Street._

I froze in shock. Was it Freddy Krueger killing these kids? That was still the biggest theory and question that ran inside of my head.

"Kids, this is something that's been kept between me and your father and I'm sorry to keep what I'm about to say to you two for years," Mom said. "But, I've been working in a spa as a temporary job until I was able to get everything I needed to become a psychologist to help kids over their nightmares about Freddy. The whole seeing him traumatized me so much that I wanted to do whatever I could to help them. However, spending money on school alone wasn't going to do. I took the job as a massage therapist while I took online classes for my psychology degree. I got the degree just a month before we moved then got a job at Westin Mills Hospital just two weeks before we moved. I want to help you and other kids before it's too late."

Doug placed a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"Mom," he said. "Faith and I got this. We'll do all that we can to find out how to defeat Freddy."

"There's a special pill that's suppose to allow a dreamless sleep," Mom continued. "It's called Hypnocil but it's suppose to come in two and a half weeks from now."

My eyes widened in shock. I was scared, thinking that I sure would die in Freddy's hands before I even got a chance to take whatever that damn pill was.

"Two and a half weeks?" I gasped.

Mom nodded.

I sighed in frustration. So I was going to be stuck with that asshole for a good while. I wasn't ready to die. Death was scary. Death by Freddy Krueger was even scarier to me.

"I know of someone who you can talk to about Freddy," Mom said. "Her name is Maggie Burroughs, who's actually Freddy's daughter. She's a sweet woman even though some think she's a bit of a nut job. I've kept in touch with her for as long as I can remember. I've told her about you two but she hasn't met you two."

My eyes lit up when I heard this.

"Maybe Doug and I can during the school week when the time is possible," I suggested. "We can meet her and then get at least any clues about Freddy."

Mom smiled.

I looked up to see Dad writing down something on a sheet of paper. He looked focused and almost with a hint of pain in his eyes.

"I'm scared for you two," he said, still looking down.

"The reason why I haven't told you this at all yet is because I was worried about putting in the real truth behind my doings," Mom continued. "Putting you two in danger was never my intention but I'm now trying to fix my ass to help you and everyone else. I know there are ways to kill Freddy but I have forgotten them. I just know that they're there."

Doug and I turned to look at each other before turning back to Mom and nodding at her. Now she was really trusting Doug and I to be the ones to stop Freddy.

I turned back to the article on the counter and pondered about it, again. I was sure on the theory that Chrystal's death was linked with Weston's death. I personally never met these people but if Freddy Krueger is around, then it could be possible that he killed Chrystal. I knew he killed Weston.

Despite that, the entire situation left my brain almost aching. The deaths, Mom's truth about her job, and Freddy were most certainly linked together. I had far too many questions.

—

After having cereal, I ran back to my room then pulled out my black journal (which hilariously was just a composition book) from my nightstand.

It was fairly new. I had only just started writing on it about a week and a half before my family and I moved to Springwood. I mostly wrote about my dreams and imaginations which might have been a little odd to some but both have always been so vivid. It allowed enough inspiration for me to write stories, based on them.

I flipped to an empty page after my last entry, something about darkness coexisting with the light or something in that theme. That entry made me laugh for some reason, maybe it was because I never really believed in absolutely hero or villain stereotypes. I always liked to spice it up.

Nevertheless, I looked at the page on the right, the empty page. I instantly remembered my dream last night. The boiler room, the heat, meeting Freddy, seeing how creepy he was, and just the way how he talked to me that left me uneasy. It was all too vivid that I couldn't just leave it off.

I grabbed a black pen, which was also on my nightstand, then began writing. Thank god the black pen appeared to be more than half empty.

Writing the dream that replayed in my head felt natural, I didn't feel like I was forced to write it. Remembering something so vividly was something I was going to look back at.

And especially after my dream of Freddy Krueger, I was determined to write it down so that whenever the time came to actually put a plan to defeat Freddy in order, I would have something to look back into.

 _Entry In This Journal No. 12: I had a nightmare last night but it was different than any other dream I had. I was in this boiler room and god damn, it was fucking hot in here! Then, I heard a bang which I had no idea where the hell it came from. Then I heard a creepy voice. I was looking around for the source of it until I saw a man with a burnt face with a red and green striped sweater, pants, fedora hat, and the most noticeable gloved hand that had bladed. Fucking blades! His name is Freddy Krueger (my mom told me about him yesterday). He talked to me in a way that he wanted me and as far as I'm concerned, I'm NOT putting up with him! He gave me two cuts, one on my arm and the other on the side of my neck, using his bladed finger. Then he says this creepy ass quote, "Faith, you are my you." What the hell does this fucker want? Anyway, when I sleep tonight, I'm gonna ask him what is the point of him trying to play with me. I have so many questions for him. I know for sure he killed Weston Heights but I'm wondering if he killed Chrystal Smith. The next several days I see Freddy, I'll be writing it down. It's important to me because it might be able to help me and my brother defeat him. I just hope we can end Freddy before he kills anyone else._

After I finished writing, I placed the pen and journal back on my nightstand. I figured I would check my phone for the time.

I took my phone from my nightstand then checked the time. It was 9:34 am.

I also noticed that I had gotten a text back from my friend, Mallory. I decided to check it and respond. I opened the message app to see her reply.

 _Oh. I hear Springwood has some serious history with some guy. Whether if he's real or not, I hope you stay safe. I miss ya girl!_

I went ahead and typed a reply text.

 _Oh, this guy is real. I saw him my nightmare last night. His name is Freddy Krueger. My brother saw him in his dreams as well. I want to research this guy then stop him before anything worse happens. He already killed two teens in their sleep. I'll try my best to stay safe. You know my brother, he finds keeping me safe pretty damn easy, lol. But thanks for looking out for me and I miss you! Hope to see you again someday._

I put my phone down after I sent the text then saw a figure just standing outside of my room. I almost jumped but noticed it was just Doug. He seemed rather surprised at my reaction.

"Damn sis," he said, walking towards me. "You seem awfully jumpy lately."

"This Freddy guy," I replied, shuddering. "His presence feels so real and I don't like it. He's a creep."

He nodded, seeming to understand what I was saying. It was easy for him to understand me, even though I was little more shy.

"He is," he said.

He paused for a moment before I noticed his eyes lit up.

"How about we get our textbooks and that," he suggested. "It'll keep our minds off of that bastard for a good while."

"Good idea," I smiled.

Doug left my room before I quickly put on my black Converse shoes. I grabbed my small and simple black purse, throwing my phone in it in the process. After I was finished, I quickly combed through my hair with my fingers before heading downstairs.

Mom and Dad were still there, talking. I didn't mind it nor did I want to disturb them.

However, they did notice me standing close to the counter. They just smiled at me.

"Sorry to interrupt you," I said rather awkwardly. "Doug and I will get our textbooks and that."

"Oh that's good," Mom replied. "Probably what you need to keep Freddy off of your minds for a while."

I smiled just when I heard footsteps coming down. I turned to see Doug heading downstairs, a smile was on his face. Now I was sure he heard the conversation.

Now it was time to get our textbooks for our classes with school starting in less than five days. Surely, I was ready. Anything to keep myself busy from my nightmare.


	8. Day Dreams

*Layla's POV*

Things were definitely getting crazy here, for the worst. Freddy Krueger was attacking Faith and Doug, two teens had already died, and I didn't really know what else was left to help other than just help kids with their nightmares. The thoughts of it sat heavily at the front of my mind.

I was nervous for a few reasons. One was that I was worried for Doug and Faith deciding to take the matters in their own hands to figure out how to stop Freddy. Second was that how Damien and I would help other than just wait for the Hypnocil to come in. And third, it was my last day to work as a massage therapist before my new job in the psychiatric ward of the local hospital started tomorrow. It all rang inside of my head.

Shortly after Doug and Faith left, I turned to Damien who appeared to be thinking.

"Damien," I said a bit slowly. "I know that the kids are trying to do what they can to figure out how to defeat that asshat Krueger. But, I think we should both try to help out."

He pondered about this for a moment. I just hoped he would accept my thought to help us.

"You know, we should," he replied. "I know that you're in the psychology unit so you can help kids who end up with nightmares about Krueger."

I nodded, agreeing with him. However, a thought came to my mind.

"Would we have to send the kids to the unit?" I asked. "They were both having nightmares with the same guy in it."

I bit my lip over the thought. As far as I was concerned, I didn't want to send them to the ward, especially on a personal level. I was not willing to put any more stress on them than how much stress they were already in. However, it might have been something that could help them, although I would've hated for them to take off of school because of their nightmares.

"No, honey," Damien replied. "I know we're worried for them but they are clever kids who have been much closer to each other than they are to us, not saying they hate us. They're very protective of each other, especially Doug towards Faith."

I nodded in agreement. I didn't have the heart to send them there. Plus, they had each other.

Another thought came into my head. I remembered the Hypnocil. I hated that it was going to be shipped after two weeks. I wondered if we would try to get it in faster.

"Damien, why don't you call whoever the people are to see if we can get the Hypnocil in earlier than two weeks," I suggested. "It's way too damn long and Freddy already killed two teens who we don't know and had already tortured our kids. I need to do some paperwork before I head to the hospital for my new job. And today is my last day at my old job. So I suggest you go ahead and call the people while I change."

Damien nodded before I turned to the hall to head to my bedroom. My mind raced as I frantically grabbed my clothes for work. I shut then door then locked it before putting them on.

*Damien's POV*

I headed to the office then turned to the phone by the computer. I now had to ask the production people to try to speed up the process in delivering the Hypnocil because two kids had already died in their sleep. No way in hell was I going to just watch more kids and my own children to die.

I found the number for the company then dialed, hands almost shaking, maybe over the fact that I was having to put this in my own hands.

Much to my surprise, someone picked up shortly after the first ring.

"Hello?" a smooth female voice said on the line. "This is Aria speaking."

"Hello," I said before going to explain myself. "This is Damien Knight calling, on behalf of my wife, Layla, who knew about your product coming to the hospitals and doctor offices here in Springwood."

There was a brief pause before Aria spoke again.

"Yes, in two weeks."

I fought the urge to pull my hair out of my hair in frustration. I was sick of hearing that it was coming in two weeks. I wanted it to be sooner and so did Layla.

"Is there anyway that you can get it in sooner?" I asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "Two teens had already died in their sleep like flies and my kids are being tortured in their sleep. It's important."

"I'll go talk to my boss and see what we can do," Aria answered.

Immediately after that, I heard familiar elevator pop music. She put me on hold.

I just waited, thinking of two things. First, I was hoping that I didn't lose my patience with this company. Second, I was hoping that the kids' mission to get their textbooks was going smoothly.

I suddenly heard footsteps coming. I turned to see it was Layla already dressed to go. She joined me in the office looking confused.

"The bitch put me on hold!" I hissed, covering the mouthpiece of the phone.

She gave me a sympathetic nod as I continued to wait. The music was getting really annoying and my patience level was slowly fading.

Thankfully, the music turned off after another few minutes and Aria on the other line spoke again.

"I've got good news," she said, her voice sounding cheery. "We can get it into the hospital and doctors' offices in about five days. The project is actually moving more quickly than we expected."

I let out a sigh of relief. Thank god. I was ready for it to come in so that the teens living on Elm Street and all of Springwood would be safe.

"Oh thank you," I said.

"You're welcome."

I hung up then smiled at Layla.

"The Hypnocil will come in sooner, five days to be exact."

She smiled then gave me a hug. However, the celebration didn't stop there. She managed to pull me into a brief but passionate kiss.

We let each other go before we walked out of the house then headed to our cars. It was now time for both of us to head to work.

—

*Faith's POV*

After getting into his truck, Doug turned on the ignition while I shut the passenger door.

Doug didn't take too long to back out of the driveway although I remained silent to allow him to concentrate. No way in hell was I going to be that inconsiderate.

"You know, it's hard to think about those two teens," Doug said as he started to drive on the street. "This Freddy guy must have done some serious dirty work."

"Yes indeed," I replied, my voice sounding very at unease. "When you think about it, it's scary. I can already imagine the damage that he's done."

Doug placed a hand on my shoulder while keeping the other on the steering wheel. Seeing this wasn't new. Every time I was uneasy about something while in the car, Doug was always reaching out to me, trying to reassure me.

"I'm scared too, sis," he said, his voice was lower than before. "But, we have to make it through this. Maybe we can figure out everything about him. About what he's capable of. Just remember that I'm always here if you need me. That's the big perk of me being the older brother."

I smiled at the sudden slight subject change and his reassurance. Having Doug as an older brother was something I had been more than just content with since day one.

I turned to him to ask him one question.

"Doug?" I said. "Do you like having a younger sister? I'm just wondering if you like it."

Even though he was mostly paying attention to the road, it wasn't hard for me to see the smile on his face.

"It's the best thing in my life," he replied. "I've always wanted a sibling, someone to protect. I have always been the caring type. I don't hate the possibility of having a little brother but sometimes, they can be difficult. They're loud and wild. I've seen how little brothers can be. Little sisters are easier to handle. And you, you're quiet. That's one thing that I admire about you."

"Thank you," I smiled.

Doug patted my shoulder lightly, smiling at me.

That wasn't the first time I've ever asked that question. I've even asked him when I was younger, probably wondering if his opinion would change a bit as I got older. But every time, it had always been the same answered and I was thankful for that.

I still remembered when Doug really stepped in to care for me. Mom had started working again shortly after I turned five and Dad was as busy as ever, not that it bothered me. Doug was the new full time carer for me, even though he was ten at the time.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Doug cursing quietly. I wasn't entirely sure at first if he was cursing to himself or not but turning my direction to the street gave me the answer.

Some dude in a smaller SUV in front of us was flipping the bird at anyone who passed him. His voice followed his actions.

"Fuck Freddy Krueger! That son of a bitch ain't real! He's a fucking ass! You can go fuck Freddy Krueger!"

I gasped when I heard this. He clearly sounded like some ignorant ass who wanted nothing more than to grab the attention for himself. And the fact that he thought Freddy Krueger wasn't real... did he even read or watch the news? Did he not see that the deaths of the two teens didn't look like a work of an ordinary serial killer?

"He better move over soon or I'm gonna call the cops," Doug muttered angrily.

I didn't say anything, just nodding in agreement. I was too stunned over this guy's horrid sense of ignorance. It was planted by his actions.

It wasn't long before he changed lanes, driving faster than before but I was glad that he was out of our sight.

"Took him long enough," Doug grumbled. "Fucker didn't even know what the two teens went through, nor what you and I been through."

I nodded, still silent, with sudden flashbacks of the nightmare from last night coming back to my head. Freddy. The smile, the expression, the way he taunted me, his obsession with me. Did writing this shit down not help? Or was I just able to remember it so well? I was beginning to think it was because of how well I remembered the nightmare.

Doug had stopped at a stop light when he seemed to notice how quiet I was. I didn't blame him though. Just by judging by the worried expression on his face (even though he still had his eyes on the road), he knew the nightmare flashbacks rang inside of my head.

"You're remembering the nightmares again?" he asked, his voice was just barely above a whisper.

I nodded, still not saying a word. If last night's nightmare scarred me that much to this point, god knows what the next one to do, mentally. That was especially when I was planning to ask Freddy why he was haunting me and Doug.

"Shit!" Doug hissed. "It hurts to see you mentally scarred by... that bastard."

I was beginning to think that maybe I should muster up the courage to speak. Normally, I would still hold a conversation when I thought about a nightmare but this time, it was different.

"I think the nightmare is just far too different from the other ones," I said in a small voice. "I remember it so vividly. It keeps replaying inside of my head. I just hear... him..."

Doug took my hand then squeeze it for comfort.

At the same time, the traffic light turned green and Doug immediately went ahead.

"Damn," he said, surprised to hear me say this. "Now I kinda don't want to know what this fucker is capable of, especially if he's haunting you."

I noticed that he, too, sounded kind of scared. Normally, he wouldn't be so scared about my nightmares but this one seemed to take a toll on him too, maybe not as much as it did to me but it might have been haunting him at levels none of us could ever imagine.

"You okay man?" I asked. "You sound kind of scared."

"Yes," he answered almost immediately. "Right now, I'm worried about you. Freddy is more obsessed with you than he is with me."

I nodded, agreeing with him. However, I wasn't entirely convinced that he was okay but I didn't dare bring it up. If he was more concerned for me than he was for himself, then I wouldn't push him against that. He knew me better than anyone else in my family, including my parents, as for vice versa.

"Oh, we're almost there," Doug said. "And I just realized that the college is about a block down on the same street as Springwood High School."

"That was because you checked your phone for directions before we left and you almost forgot, you dork," I smirked, pushing back the fear I had from earlier to the back of my mind.

He just laughed just when he pulled up to the high school: Springwood High School.

After parking the truck, he paused for a moment then turned to me, looking amused.

"That was a shorter drive than I originally anticipated," he laughed.

"No shit!" I giggled as I watched Doug shut off the engine.

We both got out of the car and Doug turned on the alarm to the truck. He turned to me but before he could say anything, a plan came to my mind.

"Maybe we can split up," I suggested. "Whoever is done can meet the other in the other school. Or if you're done first, you can drop off your textbooks in the truck before meeting me."

"Good idea," Doug nodded. "I have my phone. You have yours?"

I nodded before we turned to where we were suppose to go. Now it was time to get this done.

*Doug's POV*

The walk over to the college wasn't very far. It was only a block away although I wouldn't dare try to park the truck at the high school when Faith hadn't even gotten her driving license yet.

I quickly turned behind me and even though I was quite a distance away from the high school, Faith was no longer in sight. I was sure that she had entered already so I turned back to the direction where I was going.

It wasn't long before I arrived at the college. I just needed to find the bookstore.

I figured that I should ask someone before I made myself look like a complete fool.

I noticed someone standing in the hall, a tall straight-haired blonde woman who looked to be at least in her mid twenties, definitely older than me. She was looking down, on her phone?

I quickened my pace before stopping so that I could get her attention.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" I said.

She looked up to see me standing there. I just needed to ask her that question.

"I'm looking for the bookstore," I said. "I'm here to pick up some textbooks."

She grinned before pointing straight ahead.

"Down this way towards the end of the hall to your right," she answered, her voice was a high-pitched cheery voice that had an almost southern draw, definitely an accent there.

"Thank you," I whispered.

She nodded back to me and grinned again.

I turned back the hall then headed down it. I kept the corner of my eye to the right to look out for the bookstore.

Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to find. I immediately entered the bookstore, noticing that there was hardly anyone in. School was pretty close from now, how in the hell were there hardly anyone here?

The only one I saw was a cashier standing there with a smile on her face. She looked maybe a bit on the short end but not incredibly short. She had curly blonde hair that easily framed her face.

I smiled back at her before pulling out my phone to find the list of textbooks that I needed. It was just English, algebra, US History, dream studies, and psychology. Simple enough.

"Hey!" A high-pitched voice said.

I turned to see who had called me. It was the cashier who was smiling. I wondered why she had called me.

"Lemme tell ya one thing, sir," she said, the smile was still there. "You're cute."

I chuckled at this. It wasn't the first time I had been told such things. Even Faith's friends had told me the same thing. Sure, I didn't mind although I didn't have much interest in dating. My main job was to protect my sister.

"Oh, thanks," I smiled nervously. "That isn't the first time I've gotten that. Even my sister's friends had told me that."

The cashier eyed me carefully, confused for a second.

"Wait, you have a sister?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied as I placed my free hand in my pocket. "A little sister. She's fifteen."

The girl's eyes widened with surprise as she nodded. However, I was sure she had one more question.

"Oh, the teens," she giggled. "They can be quite troublesome because they become pretty rebellious. I've seen many of those, even when I fell in that phase, myself. Is your sister kind of like that?"

My eyes widened in shock. Surely, this chick might have seen too many rebellious teens, much like I did. Despite that, I was never in that phase and neither was Faith when she became a teenager.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "She's nothing like that at all. Trust me, whenever you first meet her, you'll like her."

She just nodded then motioned me to continue what I was doing. I turned to go find the textbooks.

The conversation seemed to give me lots of questions. I didn't know whether to be offended or to chuckle at the cashier's stereotypes for a moment.

At the instant, I just quietly chuckled at the thought. It wasn't easy for me to be offended, mostly because I chose my friends carefully.

I just brushed off the conversation then looked up to see that there were maybe thirty aisles. I noticed that English was on the far right and math was at the far left.

I decided to work my way left to right, that way it would be easy so that I didn't worry about scrambling back and forth.

It wasn't hard to find the algebra textbook that I needed and neither was it hard to find the dream studies, US history, and the psychology. The last thing I needed to find was the English textbook.

I wandered down the aisle, looking for it when I suddenly heard a familiar laugh. I looked around me, wondering where it had came from.

"Is it hard to find me, Doug?"

I didn't answer and I wasn't going to answer. I tried to ignore the voice but every step I took, the louder his voice got.

"Aww, Doug, it's your old pal, Freddy Krueger!"

I shook my head. It couldn't be. I wouldn't even be able to see him until I was asleep and I was sure I was wide awake, or at least I thought. I didn't know what to think of this. It brought in too many thoughts into my head.

I immediately found the English textbook then decided to skim through it just to make sure it was in good condition.

I opened to the middle of a page, to suddenly see a carefully drawn picture of fingers with blades on them. This looked oddly familiar and the thought made my blood run cold.

I gasped as I dropped the textbook, still managing to keep a hold on the other ones close to my chest. My heart pounded hard and beat fast. There was no way he would be able to try to—

"Your sister can't save you. It's just you and me."

I turned to see Freddy Krueger standing there. What the hell? How in the hell did he get here?

"You really should've slept a little longer before coming to pick up your textbooks, Douglas," he sneered.

I shuddered when I heard him say this. However, I was surprised that he even said my full name. I hardly ever get called by my full name out of random and to hear him say it was beyond unsettling.

"Stop it!" I hissed.

"Sir?"

I heard that female voice before. I snapped my head back into reality when I turned to see the cashier standing by my side work a worried look on her face.

"Are you alright, sir?" she asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost. I heard you from where I was."

I was almost embarrassed to say the least about my sudden freak out but I wasn't going to show that.

"I'm okay," I replied as I picked up the textbook that I dropped. "Saw some scary shit."

"Was it Freddy Krueger?" she asked.

My eyes went wide with surprise. How did she even know about him?

"Yes," I said slowly. "How did you know?"

"I've heard the rumors," she replied. "About him being back. I heard about the teens that died and I heard that the parents said that the kids died in their sleep. They also said that they think it's not a job of an ordinary serial killer."

My eyes widened in surprise. Was she really analyzing the same stuff that Faith and I were?

"Wait a second," I said. "This is the exact same theory that my sister and I had. You saw the same guy in your sleep?"

She nodded.

"Wow," I whispered, still shocked by hearing this.

"He's a creep," the cashier said, shaking her head. "He tried to kill me quite a few times but I managed to survive in the end. My boyfriend sees him too."

I felt a slight and dull headache start to build up. Was it because I was trying to process everything that this poor young woman was saying? Or was it because I had woken up so early? I didn't know.

"That's pretty scary," I said in disbelief. "I don't know what this fucker is capable of but it looks like he's done more than enough damage. He attacked me and tortured my sister."

The shock was clear on her face but she gave me a sympathetic pat on my shoulder. It made me feel a little better.

"Sorry to hear that," she said.

She paused before saying something else.

"I'm Chloe by the way," she continued. "And you?"

"I'm Doug," I replied.

Chloe reached out her hand to me, signaling that she wanted a handshake. I repeated her actions before shaking her hand. She then turned to the textbooks that I was holding.

"You found everything you need?"

I nodded.

Chloe motioned me to follow her to the cash register. I obeyed without question.

After arriving at the cash register, I placed my textbooks on the counter for Chloe to ring up.

At the same time, I heard the front doors opened to reveal a young man who looked a tad bit older than me. He was tall but maybe a little shorter than me and lean with curly brown hair.

Chloe's eyes widened with happiness when she saw the man.

"Baby!" she cried excitedly.

The young man ran to Chloe then hugged her, later accompanied by a kiss. The whole ordeal was strange to say the least. Here I was, a simple customer watching this go down.

Chloe turned to me, looking a little embarrassed, probably over having her romantic moment in front of me.

"Oh sorry about that," she laughed nervously before turning to the young man. "This is my boyfriend, Mark."

I smiled at the young man named Mark.

"I'm Doug," I said, holding out my hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you man," Mark smiled, patting me on the shoulder. "I knew you weren't flirting with my girl."

I let out a nervous chuckle even though I had to agree with him. Flirting lately had become my weakest speciality when talking to attractive ladies.

"Indeed I wasn't," I replied.

I paused before saying the one memory that had haunted me. One that told me that finding someone maybe wasn't a good idea.

"The last one ended up cheating on me," I continued, looking down and dropping my voice a little lower and more quiet. "It wasn't a pretty ending."

"Damn, that sucks," I heard Chloe say sadly. "You managed to survive through that?"

"Yes I did," I replied, looking back up. "I have to give most of the credit to my sister for helping me through that."

The young couple nodded before Chloe finished ringing up the textbooks.

"I have one question," I said.

I paused again, giving the couple some time to give me full attention.

"Do you go to school here?" I asked.

"Yes we do," Mark smiled.

He tilted his head then eyed me carefully. It almost made me uncomfortable but it wasn't long before he stopped.

"Are you new here?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "My mother got offered a job here so my family and I moved here just yesterday. We're on Elm Street."

I heard muffled gasps from the couple. I had a feeling they were going to say something, something about Freddy.

"The demon street!" Chloe hissed. "The same street where those two teens died the other day! Shit! I've heard about that! I saw that fucker last night. Same with Mark."

She paused then gave me a questioning look. I didn't know whether to feel sorry for her and her boyfriend over Freddy's ordeal or to feel uncomfortable over her expression.

"And you said you saw him?"

I nodded.

"Did he scare you or what? He just tried to kill and scare us."

Just? That didn't sound very reassuring to say the least but I refused to tell them that. I was going to tell them the truth.

"He seemed more keen to just scare me but he had injured me before," I said slowly. "However, he did torture my sister, seemingly more interested in attacking her than he does for me."

"Whoever she is, you should bring her over to tell us the story," Mark suggested while Chloe pointed to the total that I was going to have to pay for the rents of the textbooks: $227.45.

"We'll be here tomorrow," Chloe said as I pulled out my credit card to insert the chip in. "Starting at ten in the morning."

I took a moment to think about this. Sure, it would be interesting for them to hear exactly what Faith had seen but I knew that she was quite shy and quiet. Maybe I would ask her first before we randomly showed up to the bookstore without her permission.

"I'll ask her," I said as I finished making the payment then pulled my card out. "She's a little shy and quiet though."

They nodded, seeming to acknowledge me on what I had said.

Chloe handed me a receipt which I just stuffed in my pocket before taking the textbooks.

"Have a nice day, dude," Chloe smiled.

"You too," I said, giving her and Mark a nod before walking out of the bookstore.

I walked out of the bookstore then just leaned against the wall for a moment to let everything sink in. Far too much to had happened in just one simple errand.

Getting one English textbook turned into a horrid nightmare. From Freddy's voice calling out to me, to my textbook showing a random carefully drawn finger blades, to him appearing in the bookstore and scaring me.

I was now hoping that Faith hadn't seen Freddy like I did earlier. I would worry that she wouldn't survive, considering that I knew she was more vulnerable than I was.

Then I wondered how was she was going along with the textbook search. Maybe I could text her to see how it was going.

I pulled out my phone then decided to text Faith. I opened the messages app then saw Faith's name just below Mom's message to me and Faith.

I started typing.

 _Hey. Done getting textbooks. Are you done yet? If you're not, let me know where to meet you. I'm gonna drop off my textbooks in the truck. Also, something really weird happened while I was going to get my textbooks. I'll explain everything while we're in the truck._

I immediately sent that then decided to head off for the truck, still keeping my phone out just in case if Faith replied.

I turned to the right side of the hall, to the closest door. I opened the door, the heat hitting me was rather comfortable. I quickly found my way to the front of the college then headed my way for the truck.

I didn't walk very far, at least a few feet down from the college when I felt my phone vibrate. I checked it, squinting a bit because of the brightness of the sun. It was Faith.

I quickly found shade under a tall tree then went to check her message.

 _Not finished yet. It's a bit busy here. I'm in the library. After entering through the front of the school, take the first hall on your right and the library will be on your right. It's halfway down that hall._  
 _Also, what...? Dude, when we're done, you need to explain the whole thing. You okay?_

I was quick to respond.

 _I'm okay. Just a bit shaken, that's all._  
 _Oh, thanks for the directions. I was wondering if I was going to have to ask someone but thank you. But a bit busy? Sounds better than that eerie silence I got while I was in the bookstore, except when I talked to some chick at the cash register and her boyfriend came along as well. The chick's name is Chloe and her boyfriend's name is Mark. They seem like a nice couple._  
 _And, I'm on my way._

I went ahead and sent that before I continued down the sidewalk to head to the truck. I decided to quicken my pace as I pulled out the truck keys.

I made it to the truck just when I felt another buzz, coming from my phone. I decided to throw my textbooks in the truck before answering it.

I unlocked the truck then threw my textbooks in the back of the truck, on the seat behind the driver's seat.

I smiled after getting the job done. I locked the truck then saw Faith's text on my phone. I opened it to read the full thing.

 _You're welcome, bro. :)_  
 _Oh, silence can be creepy. XD_  
 _Oooooooh! I almost wanted to tease you about a possible chick you can hook up with until you said she had a boyfriend, lol. Dammit! I missed my shot! At least you said they're nice._  
 _See ya dude!_

I just laughed quietly at her reply. Our interactions through text had always been a bit more humorous than our interactions in person. It had always brought a smile to my face, regardless of what subject because it would take a hilarious turn.

I decided to just explain everything in person with my sister so I placed my phone in my pocket before continuously ahead.

I pulled out the keys to the truck then quickened my pace. I was now determined to find Faith and then when we would get in the truck, I would tell her the entire story.

My mind raced and the flashbacks of what had happened earlier kept racing back into my head. It was such a scary event.

Thank gosh Chloe, the cashier, was able to pull me back into reality or I was sure to be a dead man.

It wasn't long when I got to the truck. I unlocked the keys then threw them to the back, behind the driver's seat on the floor.

After I was done, I shut the door then locked the truck. My next mission was to meet Faith in the library. I pulled out my phone to read the text from Faith about the directions to head to the library of the high school.

*Faith's POV*

After walking into the library and getting the textbooks that I needed, I was now in line to check them out. The line at first was a little long because it was busy but it moved fairly quickly. I was only a few people away before I had to get my textbooks checked out. There were three middle-aged women by the desk, possibly trying to make the line go faster.

The stack of textbooks that I was holding was a bit heavier than I had anticipated but I didn't mind. Sure, my arms would be sore after that ordeal but that was the least of my worries.

The major thing I was worried about was when Doug had told me through text that something weird had happened during his errand. I didn't know what it was nor was I in the absolute best state of mind to guess what went on. All I knew was that he was going to tell me when the entire thing was over.

Most of the kids in line had may three or four textbooks while I was carrying six, not that it bothered me that much.

I looked behind me to see one more person in line after me. I looked around the library to see that it was now empty. It was busy when I first walked in but now, it had completely died down.

However, I heard a sudden conversation right in front of me. And it was one that I almost expected to hear.

"You heard about those teens that died?"

"Oh my god! That's so sad!"

"There's been rumors going around about some creepy ass burnt dude with a sweater, hat, and bladed gloves."

"Shit! I've seen him in my dreams lately! That bastard scared me shitless!"

"I've heard that the police doesn't think it's that fucking dream demon ass. They don't believe he's real."

"What the hell? Any adults actually believe that he's real who's alive?"

"Well, outside of Freddy's daughter, Maggie, I think there was a woman who actually saw him when she was a teenager."

I looked up to see the conversation was between two tall girls, a blonde and a red-head standing in front of me. My ears perked up but I didn't dare say a word.

"What is her name?" Blonde asked.

Red-head looked like she was pondering before she said a word.

"I think it's Layla Knight, who was once Layla Williamson. She married a banker Damien Knight."

Blonde gasped, eyes wide with shock. Maybe their clues would be just the warm-up to get any information before I would confront Freddy.

"She's a friend of Maggie's. No wonder why Layla seems pretty well known."

"She's not as much of a nut job as Maggie though. She's hot though."

"I heard Freddy actually once tried to kill her but she moved out long before he could actually kill her. And I heard as of late, she moved back to Springwood with her husband and two kids."

"They seem like a lovely family," Red-head said quietly. "I wonder if Freddy got to the kids."

"He probably has," Blonde said nervously. "The kids ain't even twenty-one yet!"

The line continued to move quickly as I waited patiently. Maybe if these girls were still talking about Freddy, I could possibly get some answers from them. They heard about this Maggie person and my mother.

"Isn't one like fifteen and the other is twenty?" Red-head asked.

Blonde nodded.

Before Red-head could say anything, both girls were called to get their books checked out. It was just me and another girl behind me.

I ended up deciding against randomly walking up to the girls. It wasn't my business nor was I absolutely gonna push my curiosity that far.

I just wondered how the kids were maybe quick to believe that Freddy might have returned but the police didn't believe it, at least to them. However, maybe I would see for myself if the police did believe me. If there was more to be answered, sure they would be close to actually listening.

My thoughts were interrupted when one of the women called me over. I quickly snapped back into reality when I walked over to the woman who had called me.

"Find everything, ma'am?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied as I placed my textbooks on the counter.

She took them with a nod just when I noticed from the corner of my eye, the girl behind me already going to the counter next to me.

"Oh, and we're all gonna be in our office after this so there won't be any textbook checkout until ten," the woman added. "However, if you want, you can look around here at the books and that. If you have any questions, we'll be in the office."

I was skeptical at first. I wanted to look around at the books the library had to offer here but being left alone was a bit awkward.

After a few moments of thinking, I decided to look around. At least I would know what books they had here, just in case if I decided to check out a book when school started. Plus, I had texted Doug that I would be here so I wanted to keep my promise.

After the woman was finished checking out my textbooks, she gave me a smile and nod when she and the other two women walked into the door behind them.

I was surprised that it finished earlier than I was expecting, given that it was busy earlier. I guess with the three women, the line ran smoothly.

I turned to the book aisle to my left. It was labeled _**Fantasy**_ which made me pretty happy.

I normally like fantasy, sci-fi, suspense, supernatural, and even horror type of books. They were always the most fun for me to read.

I went ahead and slowly and carefully examined what books were there. It was such a fascinating thing to do. I was loving what I was seeing. If maybe I would—

"Enjoying yourself, little Faith?" I heard a voice say that very much sounded like it came from the intercom.

I was startled for a moment, wondering where that voice was coming from. There was no one here. Was it just a voice inside of my head? Was I suddenly hallucinating?

"Faith, I still remember how fun it is to play with you."

"What the hell?" I wondered, my heart suddenly beating fast and pounding hard.

My breathing suddenly accelerated as I tried to look around on who was trying to scare me. I was scared.

"Keep living in your imagination, bitch!"

I jumped when the voice shouted "bitch" as I slowly backed away from what ever was trying to scare me.

"Ah! Not too close!"

A laugh erupted throughout the library, however, I was surprised that none of the women earlier went to investigate what it was.

"Look behind you or you might just find the surprise of your life!"

I was trembling with the crippling dread piercing through as I turned around to see that it was him, again.

Freddy Krueger.

What the hell was he doing doing here? I wasn't even sleeping! This didn't make sense.

"Aww, don't you worry, baby cheeks," he cooed, an evil smirk shown on his burnt face. "You're only daydreaming. Seemed like Doug was having this as well."

The air hitched in my throat when I heard him say this. So this was what the weird thing that happened to Doug when he texted me earlier? My blood ran cold as I continued to shiver.

"You went after my brother?" I asked, trying to sound angry but I was sounding more shocked than angry.

"Two minds at different stages in their lives must almost be alike, bah!" Freddy laughed.

Thinking quickly, I ran out of the aisle to get away from him. I still had the textbooks with me, which I had almost forgotten they were there after I saw Freddy.

Much to my horror, when I stopped a few feet before the front doors, Freddy was there. He wasn't even there before. How the hell?

"No!" I cried.

"Oh, you forgot that it's so easy for me to chase after you," he sneered. "Pitiful."

He pointed his bladed finger to me, a crooked smile was shown on his face. I was terrified.

I wanted to run for the office but something in the back of my mind told me that Freddy would be smarter and would push me away.

I wanted to call Doug to tell him to get me away from here but I realized that Freddy would do anything he could to keep Doug away.

Before I could try to outrun Freddy again, he knocked my textbooks out of my hands, causing me to fall back.

He continued to inch forward towards me but I crawled backwards, determined to get away from him.

"Outrunning me?" he said, surprised. "You won't be able to when I hurt you."

He reached me by grabbing me by the arm then threw me against a bookshelf, back first hitting it. The impact was painful as I gasped at the sudden pain.

I landed on the floor, back first hitting it. I tried to ignore the pain from earlier.

"Don't you even dare try to do it again!" I shouted, struggling to get back up on my feet.

"Aww, poor little Faith," he cooed, walking over to me as I tried to look away.

"Look at me, you bitch!" he yelled, turning my face towards him.

I was now sure that I would die right here. Freddy got a hold of me and no signs of anyone coming in to try to pull me away. I was screwed.

"You might actually be my favorite," he said, his lips curling into an evil smile, one that sent a chill down my spine. "From Nancy, to your mother, to the many others I've played with. You're my personal favorite. It's easier to break you, and to... examine you."

I shuddered at the words. It all sounded wrong, dirty in many ways and no way I wanted anything to do with him.

However, my eyes went wide when I heard him say Nancy. The flashbacks of my mother telling me and Doug the story of him, going after Nancy, killing her friends along the way. It was all back in the 1980s.

"Faith, you fascinate me," he purred.

"You've told me that already before, you asshole," I snapped. "But I won't let you attempt to get a piece of me."

Before Freddy could reply, I grabbed one of my textbooks from the floor then hit him on the head. I heard him cry out in surprise as I tried to run from him.

"Not this time, bitch!" I heard Freddy roar.

He suddenly appeared in front of me. This time, I turned around, hoping to find some cover but every time I tried to find a new direction, Freddy always appeared.

"You can run but you can't hide," he taunted. "Or actually, there is no running in the library. Don't run or you'll get in trouble."

I decided to use the one textbook I was holding as a weapon again. I hit him on the arm with it, hoping he would be distracted so that I could escape.

Instead of reacting to my actions, he grew angry. He got ahold of my arm again then threw me against the same bookshelf, however, it was harder this time, enough that I dropped the book that I used as a weapon.

I didn't hold back my scream of agony as I tried to fight against the pain all over my back. Freddy was doing more than enough damage and now, I was scared that I would end up with a broken spine or something.

Freddy turned to the books then an evil grin was shown on his face.

"You want to play it that way, Faith?" he sneered. "Then I have something for you in return."

He didn't turn away from the books that he was looking at. He looked like he was pondering as I was struggling to sit up because of the pain.

His bladed finger touched one book rather carefully, not making a single mark or tear on the cover.

He turned to me then threw the books at me, a few actually hitting me. I screamed when he did this, leaving me almost completely vulnerable. I wanted to fight back but I didn't have the strength to do it.

However, that wasn't the end of Freddy's taunting torture.

He lunged at me, giving me three large cuts on my upper arm. I screamed at the stinging pain as I tried to hold on to my arm. The pain was worse than last night and I hated it. It was fresh and raw with the blood pouring out.

"Make it stop!" I cried as I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the pain.

"Whoa! Faith, are you okay?"

I heard a familiar voice. I looked up to see Doug kneeling down to my side, concern was clear on his face. It wasn't hard to see why.

"I saw Freddy," I replied, my voice was shaking.

Doug just wrapped his arms around me comfortingly before he said a word.

"I'm here," he whispered, trying to calm me down. "Don't worry. You're safe now."

After a while, he let me go when I noticed that there was blood on his hand. He must have noticed because he looked down, his eyes wide with concern. I knew he was about to ask me something.

"Did he hurt you again?" he asked, stroking my hair.

I couldn't muster up the courage to speak at the moment so I just nodded instead. I was too stunned by the events from earlier.

I showed him the three cuts on my arm from earlier, which were still fresh wounds. The thought of looking at the wounds that Freddy gave me made me sick to my stomach.

Doug looked at the wounds carefully, as if he were studying them. I noticed the expression on his face went from focused to shock. He mouthed the word "shit" and it wasn't shocking to see why.

"Fuck!" he hissed. "That's deeper than the wound he gave you last night!"

I shuddered at the thought, now the stinging pain was becoming more bearable. It was still there though and I hated it.

At the same time, one of the women who was helping out earlier ran up to us, looking horrified.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright, sweetie?"

Doug looked a bit annoyed but he managed to hide his annoyance.

"Don't worry about it," he said, putting an arm around me. "I'll take care of her."

If the woman looked convinced at all, she was likely slightly convinced.

"Are you sure about that, sir?" she asked, turning to Doug.

Doug gave a nod, I could tell he was being absolutely serious about what he was telling the woman.

"Yes," he answered. "She's my sister. I'll make sure that she's okay. And I'll put up those books."

The woman was silent for a moment before she said a word.

"Then carry on," she smiled. "And I was just about to ask about the mess of books but I trust you on that."

She turned away and headed back to the office behind the desk, leaving me and Doug alone again.

"Alright, back to looking at your arm," Doug said. "It's pretty deep. I hope this shit don't require stitches because I know how much you hate those."

I nodded, acknowledging what he said, considering how much he knew about me.

He finished examining my wounds then buried my face in his chest.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," he said sadly.

He let me go after a few moments before turning to the books that Freddy threw at me earlier. I tried to stand up to help but Doug just sat me back down.

"Don't," he said, his tone sounding worried. "You're hurt. I don't want you hurting yourself even more than how much Freddy hurt you earlier."

I nodded then waited as Doug put away the books that Freddy threw earlier.

I watched the blood on my arm that was already drying up made me uneasy.

Doug didn't take long to put the books away because after about a minute, he was done.

He knelt down beside me then stroked my hair again.

"He tortured me," I managed to say in a small voice before burying my face in my brother's chest again.

He hugged me more tightly in such a brotherly manner.

"You can always count on me to protect you," he said quietly.

He let me go after a few seconds then looked at my wounds again, pondering.

"I think I have a first aid kit in the truck," he finally said.

I already knew this, hence the many amount of times I rode with him but I didn't want to say anything.

He turned to the textbooks that I had dropped from earlier when Freddy attacked me.

"You done getting them?" he asked.

I nodded, still wincing at the pain on my arm. I didn't think it would bother me this much, but wow, Freddy Krueger really did the opening act of his dirty work.

"I was just looking around at the books here until Freddy attacked me," I said, surprised at the small hint of frustration in my voice even though I was still traumatized.

Doug just stroked my hair in a comforting manner again.

"I'll carry your books for you," he suggested.

I nodded to him, approving of his plan. I just wanted to get out of here so that I could tell my story about my encounter with Freddy and hear about Doug's encounter with Freddy.

Doug helped me up then picked up my textbooks, helping me out of the library then we headed to the front of the school.

Thank gosh there was no one in the halls to gasp at the three deep wounds on my arm. And poor Doug would become more annoyed with them.

It wasn't long before we made it out of the parking lot as I slowly began to regain my sanity after the shit that went on earlier. I still couldn't get it out of my head but at least I was stable enough to feel like I could tell the story about what happened without losing it.

Doug's truck wasn't very far from the front of the front of the school. It was only shortly after making it outside when we found the truck. Doug unlocked the truck then threw my textbooks next to his.

"You holding up alright?" he asked after closing the back passenger door.

"I'm hanging in there," I said, hoping I sounded convincing enough even though I was still traumatized by the incident.

"You sure?" he asks, turning to me.

I nodded.

He gave a nod as if he believed me then walked me over to the passenger side of the truck. He helped me in, mostly because I was hurt from what happened earlier.

After we got into the car, Doug turned to me.

"I think the kit is in the glove department," he pointed.

I nodded as I opened it then noticed it right away. I took it out then gave it to Doug before closing the glove department.

"I'm gonna have to clean it first," Doug said, sounding more like he said it to himself than to me.

"You want to tell your story first or you you want me to tell mine?" I asked as I watched him take out the supplies to clean the wounds.

"I'll tell mine first," he replied as he began to clean my wounds. "I think you need some time to process the shit that happened to you before you tell me."

I gave him a nod, approving of his decision. I was curious about what exactly happened to him, other than I knew that Freddy tried to scare and toy with Doug.

"It was when I was looking for the English textbook, the last one I had to find," Doug began, his voice was shaking a little as he began to bandage my wounds. "I heard... someone. Someone's voice, calling my name. I ignored that voice when I decided to double check that the textbook was in good condition."

He paused as he finished up, looking like he was in serious disbelief.

"I opened it to the middle of the book and then I saw that gloved hand with the blades he had on as a picture in it," he continued, shaking his head. "I dropped the textbook, scared shitless. He called me by my full name which is weird because I'm hardly ever called by my full name. But, he said that you couldn't save me. I told him to stop until I was back into reality. He basically scared the shit out of me."

I didn't hold back my gasp of horror.

"Shit!" I said loudly, shocked at what I was hearing. "How many more times is that bastard going to scare you before I attempt to fuck him up tonight?"

"I don't even want to know," Doug replied, facepalming.

I just nodded in agreement. It was probably best for him not to know anyway.

Silence fell between the two of us before Doug turned to me.

"Tell me about what Freddy did to you earlier," he said. "You don't have to give me every detail if you don't want though."

Much to my surprise, I didn't feel as afraid to speak of it as I felt earlier. I didn't know why but I had no desire to learn why. I was just determined to tell the whole story, or at least as much as I could, if at all.

"I had finished checking out my textbooks and the ladies said they were gonna go to their office and that I was welcomed to look around," I began my story, letting the entire thing replay in my head. "I went ahead and looked around because I told you to meet me in the library anyway and I wanted to stick to that. I was looking around until I heard him. He told me that he got after you while you were getting your textbooks. He threw me against the bookshelf twice. I tried to get away from him and used my textbooks as weapons to hit him. Despite my efforts, that asshole seemed to find a way to attack me. Eventually, he left me vulnerable and gave me the cuts before you found me."

Doug's mouth hung open in shock as he turned on the ignition to the truck before mouthing the word "fuck."

"That fucker really tried to toy with you?" he asked in horror.

I nodded.

"That fucking bastard!" he shouted before turning to me.

I noticed that the expression on his face was turning from horror to concern quickly and it wasn't hard to see why.

"I'm really scared for you, Faith," he said in a shaky voice, taking my hand. "He's really taking a step closer to killing you. He has dangerous intentions for you. We have to stop him or else he'll kill you before we even get close to finding the answers. I don't want to be stuck here without my little sister. That's what I'm most afraid of. I just don't know if you'll be able to take another Freddy dream shit. If anything, we might have to tell this shit to the police or something."

"I'm going to get answers from Freddy, himself before we start looking for how to defeat him," I said. "If we're going to take this to the police, they need the motive. Maybe they might believe us. We don't even know if they'll believe us, adult wise except for Mom and Dad. Giving them the I don't know thing would make them laugh at us."

Doug seemed to nod at my suggestion to possibly file this to the police. It had to be done if we were going to get any chance to warn the people of Elm Street, as well as Springwood as a whole.

It was only our second day living in Springwood and things were getting serious. Freddy had killed two teens already and I was sure that his dirty work wasn't finished.

Doug turned to me, concern was shown in his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to ask Freddy why he's attacking us?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm really worried for you. It's obvious that he's more obsessed with you than he is with me. I would hate to see you die in his hands. And he's already tortured you twice."

"I have to," I replied. "Risking your life would be asking for trouble. It's the right thing to do. If we want to give the police the best answers we can get, then I have to do what must be done."

He placed a hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner. I knew what he was about to say.

"Faith, I trust you on this," he said. "Just be careful."

I nodded just after he began to pull out of the parking lot. Now it was time for us to head home but our discussion about what went on earlier didn't end there.


	9. Investigation

*Faith's POV*

Doug and I arrived home then noticed that Mom and Dad weren't home yet. They were probably at work which had became the norm shortly after Doug got his driver's license when he was sixteen.

My mind still tugged in on what had happened earlier, seeing Freddy in the library. I was sure that I was awake... or was I daydreaming?

The thoughts of the events earlier definitely left me traumatized but at the same time, the back of my mind told me that I shouldn't be so afraid.

Maybe I shouldn't be so afraid because I was already hellbent on wanting to rid of Freddy completely. Maybe I shouldn't be so afraid because I was not wanting to watch anyone else get killed by that maniac.

I still wanted the answers on if he had killed Chrystal Smith but I was positive that he did.

I wasn't physically there to see the damage but my imagination was active enough to picture exactly who would be behind this. Despite this, I didn't want to full out assume such a thing.

Doug and I were in the living room on the couch, still questioning how Freddy managed to see us. It was just minutes of deep pondering and discussions that at first were hard to add up.

Doug and I were hardly ever this deep in discussions about nightmares but these recent dreams had given more than enough to speak of.

"How in the hell was he able to see us the way he did?" Doug asked

"I wonder what Freddy wants from us," Doug said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Dude, I think it's been established that he comes in our dreams," I said.

I paused to think about this for a moment. That was when something rang inside of my head.

"Wait a second!" I gasped, inching to the edge of the couch. "We must've been daydreaming. And as far as Freddy goes, he must be some kind of supernatural being who's able to cause the damage."

Doug looked shocked.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"It makes sense!" I insisted. "We don't know what exactly he is but I'm positive that he's the phantom of our dreams, or not just a phantom. He's something else. We need to get the answers as soon as possible so that we know as much as we can when we defeat Freddy. There's no way he would just appear where we were without any reason. We were daydreaming, dude."

He placed a hand on my shoulder, nodding in agreement.

"Sis, you're brilliant," he said. "Although, I think this guy has told you too much much."

I nodded in agreement.

"Just know that regardless, I'm here for you," he said, hugging me.

It was times like these that made Doug the best brother I could ever for.

He let me go then quickly got up to his feet.

"I'll be back," he said. "I'm gonna go get something so that we can research this guy. I know we said we could file this to the police tomorrow but I'm thinking that we should do it today. At least to warn them about this fucking creep."

"You're right," I said, nodding. "We should tell the police today. The last thing we need is more teenagers dying in Springwood at all, let alone in fucking Elm Street."

He turned to head upstairs while I pulled out my phone to check the time. At the same time, I heard sirens going off, possibly from outside of the house.

"What the hell?" I wondered as I got up from my seat to go towards the window at the front door.

I went to go check out what was going on and my blood ran cold. There were two police cars and an ambulance just two houses away from across our house. The lights were on as well even though the sun was shining bright.

If this was exactly what I thought was going on, then I would run to the police at that instant, of course taking Doug with me because there was no way that I was going alone.

"Doug?" I called, my voice was shaking.

"Everything alright?" I heard him ask.

I was scared to tell him exactly what was going on. All I could do was to tell him to see for himself.

"You have to come down and see this," I said, still staring at the event that was going on so close to my house.

My heart pounded hard and beat fast, much from the intense and foreign dread that built up in the core of my being. I didn't say another word but instead just staring at the house crowded with the ambulance and two police cars.

 _Freddy did his dirty shit again and killed another teenager_ , I thought.

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs then come closer to me.

I moved out of the way to allow Doug to see where I was looking through earlier.

He peered through the window while I stood there, unsure what to think after what I had saw earlier.

"Oh shit," Doug hissed. "We should tell them now."

"Yes," I said, nodding in agreement.

Doug opened the front door as we headed to the house surrounded by police and an ambulance. I also noticed a few people standing outside of the house, expressions of horror shown on their faces.

Their voices of horror followed along as Doug and I were taking steps closer to the scene.

"Who in the Lord's name would do this?"

"I ain't got a clue. Rumor has it that a ghost called Freddy Krueger has returned and is taking out these kids."

"There's no ghost!"

"The police find it a bunch of bogus but of course, there will be more kids telling them otherwise."

"At least Maggie Burroughs and Layla Knight actually know the full story of this."

"Wait, Layla? The one who married the banker and now has two kids?"

"Yes. She's pretty well known and she's not as much of a nut job as Maggie."

"If Layla does think that this Freddy guy is back, then I'm pretty damn sure that he got to her kids."

"Well, Layla did say recently that she's trying to get this new drug in called Hypnocil to help all the kids to not dream and stuff while Layla's own kids are probably gonna get to the bottom of this shit."

"Let's hope they find out soon before more kids die, possibly including them."

I knew my mother told our neighbors a lot, her gossiping nature was never like any townsgossip.

I noticed a police officer standing on the other side of what appeared to be police tape. I wasn't surprised to see why it was there.

"Oh, poor Sharon Mights," I heard a female voice say. "Can't believe she died in her sleep. She was seventeen and full of life. She wasn't even sick or anything."

My eyes widened when I heard this. Of course, another teen died, very likely at the hands of Freddy Krueger. I heard most people say that the police would not believe such a thing but I was determined to see for myself.

I turned to Doug, having to look up a bit due to him looking so tall when he stood so close to me.

"It's gotta be Freddy," I whispered. "No one else would do this."

He nodded in agreement as I turned to the policeman standing by the police tape.

I took a step closer to the tape, thinking of a way to get the policeman's attention. I had to tell him the truth, regardless.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" I said, trying to sound as polite as possible but I was sure that I was scared.

The policeman turned to me, concern on his face.

"Is there something you need, young lady?" he asked.

I quietly cleared my throat, squared my shoulders, then stood up as straight as possible.

"I know who's behind the killings of the teens," I said.

The policeman gave me nod to continue what I was saying.

"You've heard of a story about a burnt guy who wore a red and green striped sweater with a hat and a glove with blades?" I asked. "He would kill teens in their dreams back in the eighties and forward on until his daughter destroyed him?"

He nodded.

"Rumors are true that he's back," I said. "I've seen this guy recently along with my brother. We need your help to maybe keep high protection on the entire town of Springwood before more teens die. My brother and I are in the process of trying to figure out how to destroy him but we can't do everything by ourselves. We really need your help."

The policeman looked surprised when he heard me say this.

"You sure about that?" he asked. "Freddy Krueger is just a myth now. We're very likely gonna rule the deaths of Weston Heights and Chrystal Smith as suicide-"

"No, it's real," I insisted. "Suicide isn't logical in that kind of situation. There is a man who appears in dreams and he can kill people and it's real. We need to warn the people living in Elm Street and perhaps all of Springwood about this dangerous man. Maybe even give them pills to stay awake before the Hypnocil gets in-"

The policeman just hushed me in response before saying anything. I was scared about what he would say next.

"There's nothing that shows that some serial killer is on the loose," he said. "I don't want to be rude or anything but my team and I had heard more than enough and we'd like to not hear anymore of it. We wish you and your brother luck in finding out the core of the killings but we can't help you because there isn't such thing as a burnt murderer with bladed gloves. I'm sorry, miss."

He turned to the house as I just stood there, stunned and shocked. He didn't believe me. He probably thought I was a nut job.

I shook my head then turned away from the house, where I saw Doug standing where he was before I left to talk to the policeman. I passed by the small crowd of people, accidentally bumping into some in the process but I was now aching to break the news to Doug and even our parents when they got home.

Doug seemed to notice the serious expression on my face, not that I bothered hiding it. I wasn't going to hide the fact that I was on the brink of losing hope.

"He didn't believe me," I said. "They're already close to ruling Weston's death and Chrystal's death as suicide."

Doug's expression showed the utter shock that even I found almost foreign.

"Shit," he said, quietly enough that only I heard. "We'll just need to stay strong and figure out everything ourselves."

I nodded as we headed back to the house. Now it was time for us to figure everything out about Freddy. Doug and I were now on our own.


	10. Thoughts

*Faith's POV*

Doug and I made it home after talking to the police but it didn't go without us shaking our heads in disbelief. The reminder that now, we were pretty much on our own to figure out how to defeat Freddy.

The situation was getting more serious than ever. The Hypnocil still was a long way away to get here, which I still had trouble wrapping my head around it. Doug and I hadn't even gotten close to starting with the research on Freddy which now I realized that we had to start really soon. Then the cold harsh truth got shoved in my face, that the police didn't believe me when I told them the truth.

"I think we should start the research now," I suggested. "Freddy is getting ruthless now."

"Good idea," Doug replied.

He turned back for a moment before turning back to me.

"I actually brought my laptop down for us to start before you told me about what had happened earlier," he continued. "At least we'll have a better understanding of exactly what we're up against."

"Good idea," I replied with a small smirk on my face.

He led the way to the coffee table where a silver laptop was laying there. He went to turn it on.

At the same time, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, causing me to jump a bit. It partially bothered me that I had been so jumpy ever since my first encounter with Freddy.

I pull my phone out to check what was going on. It wasn't entirely surprisingly to see that it was Mom who had texted me.

I noticed that Doug had done the same thing. Did he get a text from Mom as well?

I checked to see what the message was.

 _Your father was able to get the Hypnocil in sooner. It will now be in for us in about a week._  
 _Also, I heard about another teen death that just went on earlier, this time really close to our home. Not sure if you two heard of it._  
 _Also, quick question, how did the textbook errand go?_

I looked up at Doug and I instantly knew the first thing that I was going to say.

"Well, thank goodness that the Hypnocil will be coming in sooner," I said, relieved.

"You're right about that, sis," Doug replied. "It's about time it get here sooner."

We were silent for a moment before Doug turned to me again. It wasn't hard to figure out what he was going to ask me.

"You hanging in there?" he asked.

I didn't answer right away because I felt unsure. So many things happened in just one morning, most in the hands of Freddy Krueger. I didn't know if I should feel relieved that I wasn't seeing or whether to be worried for everyone of Springwood.

However, I couldn't leave my brother hanging without an answer so I had to be honest with him.

"I'm trying but it's kind of hard," I finally said, pulling my knees closer to my chest on the chair. "So much had happened and I can still remember it so vividly. The thought makes me more scared about deciding to face him to get answers from him."

I could see the sympathetic look in Doug's eyes. I had seen it all too many times. He was worried for me, especially after the shit that went on earlier.

Freddy was becoming relentless at this point. He had already killed three people in a span of less than two days, or at least I was sure it was him for the past two killings. And then, he had attacked me and Doug twice even though Freddy had much more fun playing with me.

The thought of Freddy getting this far left me even more worried. I was even more worried that I would have to break the news to my parents, given that I had to be brief with my mother in my possible reply and then explain everything when both of my parents came home.

"I don't really blame you," Doug replied. "I still remember the shit from earlier today but—"

He paused for a moment. Was he going to tell me the same thing like he did before? I wasn't sure this time.

"Actually, remember that girl who I told I met and her boyfriend from earlier?" he asked.

I was surprised to hear him say this but I nodded, remembering the texts he sent me earlier before the hell wen down.

"I was telling them about you and that we both saw Freddy," he continued. "They want to hear your story about seeing Freddy but I was hesitant about it, given I know the shit Fred put you through."

My eyes lit up when I heard this. I was trying to not be so afraid to tell my story about the nightmares of Freddy. This would just be another step to try to spread the word so that no one else would suffer or even die.

"Dude, I think it's important to let them know," I insisted. "We can't do this alone. I'll text Mom and then we'll head out. It's the only way we can let people know that falling asleep or just dreaming can be a dangerous situation until the pill gets here."

"Right," Doug replied.

I turned to my phone then began to text a reply to my mother.

 _Oh that's good news!_  
 _Textbook errand for the most part went well but we fell into a bit of predicament with Krueger which we'll explain when you and Dad are home._  
 _I actually heard the sirens and sure enough, people were saying that a teen died. I actually tried to tell the police was what really happening but they wouldn't believe us._

I sent the text then looked up again to see that Doug had already closed his laptop. I guessed we were going to start the research at the bookstore.

"Let's just hope nothing bad happens again like what happened earlier with us," I said nervously. "Keep our heads away from the clouds and we'll be good."

He nodded as he grabbed his keys, I followed him rather close behind but not too close. We quickly walked out of the house then headed for the truck.

"We'll just need to tell these people what we know based on what we've seen," I suggested as I climbed into the passenger seat. "See if it matches what these people have seen and then we'll go from there."

Doug lightly patted my bandaged arm from earlier, probably thinking that I had been right.

"Exactly, Faith," he said before turning on the truck's engine. "It needs to be done so that we'll have a easier time to warn everyone."

I nodded when I felt a buzz from my hand. I had completely forgotten that I still had my phone in my hand. I decided to check to see who it was just when Doug had pulled out of the driveway. I began to wonder if our mother had said anything about the situation we had with seeing Freddy earlier.


	11. New Answers

*Doug's POV*

It surprised me that Faith seemed rather eager to tell the new friends I made about her story of Freddy but I couldn't tell her otherwise. I heard their stories of Freddy and what he had done to them which was scary enough but I had a feeling that they'd be terrified when they would hear about what Freddy did to Faith.

The entire thought of going through this made me feel rather nervous but I knew it would only do us well to at least try to get anyone on Elm Street, possibly all of Springwood on high alert. Every dream meant that there was a life on the line with more to follow.

We were just about five minutes away from the college when my thoughts were interrupted when Faith spoke, although I strangely felt thankful for that.

"Mom's worried sick for us considering the textbook errand incident. She was planning to leave work at around five but now she's gonna leave at around four. She tried to ask for earlier but four was the earliest that she could get. Also, she's not pleased about the police not believing us."

I stopped at the red light a little harder than I thought even though I was usually very cautious. Sure, it was worrying that Mom would be a little paranoid for us but I didn't know why hearing this startled me this much.

"Maybe she might tell us that we shouldn't sleep tonight," I wondered a bit nervously.

I paused for a moment to turn to Faith then turned back to the road again. At the same time, the traffic light turned green, allowing me to go. I hit the gas pedal carefully as I tried to process everything before speaking again.

"Our lives are pretty much in danger and you've been injured by Freddy twice," I continued. "If he does it again, there will be hell to pay on his end."

"I'm not even sure if that's even possible," Faith muttered. "Even the hardest you might ever hit seems to do little to no damage to him."

It wasn't hard for me to detect the growing concern in her voice. I didn't blame her for sounding this worried either. Even though I had two scary predicaments with Freddy, Faith had it worse even though she had the same number of dreams about him as I did.

I suddenly remembered Freddy telling me how much Faith had interested him. I shuddered at the memory before refocusing my eyes on the road.

I wanted to say something reassuring to Faith but I wasn't sure what even to say at this point. I felt quite defeated over this.

"I guess we'll just have to see what we can learn about," I sighed sadly. "I could've said something else but I'm done trying to just pretend it's okay when it's clear that it isn't."

Much to my surprise, Faith had an immediate response and one that I wasn't expecting at all.

"Dude, we'll just have to pull through and we won't throw in a shit of pretending," she replied. "I understand that you want to protect me and that but I'm worried that even that won't save us."

I nodded in agreement, although I was still surprised to hear her say this. I almost wanted to protest but I could tell that by the tone of her voice, she really meant it.

"Maybe we should talk to Maggie Burroughs today," she continued. "The longer we hold off on this shit, the harder it will be for us to figure out this shit."

I couldn't help but agree with her. I nodded. I wasn't really sure when we would decide to get that done but I was determined for us to get as many answers as we needed before time ran out.

—

Faith and I arrived at the college bookstore, parked in the visitors parking lot.

I shut off the engine then turned to Faith.

"Are you sure you'll be able to tell them?" I asked, concerned.

"Yes I am," Faith insisted a little more boldly than usual.

I gave her a nod before we got out of the truck then headed for the bookstore.

I led the way, already having the directions to get there in my head.

However, much to my surprise, there was no one in the halls at all. Not even a single person to possibly help with the directions of this place.

 _I guess they're gone for a bit,_ I thought.

I suddenly began to have a very uneasy feeling, like something in this silence (with the exception of our footsteps) was haunting me.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the front doors of the bookstore, thank goodness. There was no way I wanted to be in that silence that gave me uneasiness.

I was just about to open the door when I suddenly heard a familiar laugh. I turned to see him again, Krueger.

I jumped then turned to my left to find an escape route when I suddenly saw Faith standing there looked worried.

"Shit, you alright, dude?" she asked.

It took me a moment to realize that Freddy wasn't really here. I must've been daydreaming in my damn imagination again. It surprised me that like my earlier daydream, this one was short.

I took a moment to try to fully recover before answering Faith.

"I think so," I replied, sounding a little unsure. "God damn daydreams again."

It didn't surprise me that I was still a little shaken from that but I couldn't keep myself in that state. I had to keep Faith in order so that she didn't have the same shit that I did earlier.

"Let's just go inside before you lose it again," Faith suggested.

I nodded to her before opening the door to allow us both in. Faith went in first as I followed rather closely behind her.

That was when I saw the familiar faces of Chloe and Mark but this time, there were three other people with him. There were two young men and a young woman.

The first young man looked at least around Faith's age, maybe a little older. He was tall and thin but not very muscular with curly blonde hair. He looked almost similar to Chloe much to my surprise. Were they related somehow?

I turned to see the young woman with the young man. She seemed to be about a few inches taller than Faith. She had long straight brown hair that looked a little messy in some areas, not that it bothered me so much. She looked just a tad bit over curvy.

I then saw the other young man who was standing alone against the wall. He looked to be around my age. He was tall, thin, and more muscular than the first guy I saw. He had straight brown hair that looked neat.

I turned to Chloe and Mark who smiled at me, however, they did seem a little surprised.

"Oh, didn't expect you to be here twice today," Chloe laughed.

She turned to Faith, a bit confused at first.

"Oh, this is my sister Faith," I said to Chloe and Mark while gesturing to Faith.

I watched Faith introduce herself to Chloe and Mark and I couldn't help but smile.

Chloe then went ahead to gesture to the rest of the group.

"This is my little brother, Jake," she said gesturing to the blonde young man.

She turned to the brunette-haired young woman. "This is his girlfriend, Amanda but she prefers to be called Mandy."

She lastly turned to the brunette-haired young man. "And this is Mark's buddy, Donald."

Faith and I shook hands with the young man named Donald. He had a friendly smile on his face, maybe more than the others.

"We actually came here because my sister was insisting on telling you her stories about the burnt man," I said after saying "hello" to everyone. "I also think we should start our research over Krueger so that we know where to start when it comes to figuring out how to kill him."

Everyone looked surprised as silence fell between the entire area. The silence didn't last long as I noticed that it was Mandy was about to speak.

"Well, Faith," she said, turning to Faith. "Tell us your story."

I turned to Faith who shuddered a bit, probably over that she was having to remember the events of her nightmares of Freddy. I didn't blame her. Remembering even a tiny bit of my recent dreams of Freddy always sent a chill down my spine and not the good kind of chill. Regardless, we all had our complete attention to Faith.

"The first nightmare I had of this guy was during the first night that we were here," she began. "I remember my mother telling me and Doug about Freddy but she was under the assumption that he was no longer alive due to his daughter killing him."

I heard a few "wows" and "damns" but I remained silent, knowing that I had heard it all before.

"The first nightmare when I first saw him was when he tried to take a look at me," Faith continued. "I tried to fight back but he wouldn't let me. He ended up giving me two cuts: here and here."

She gestured to her arm where I first had to bandage her and then her bandaged neck.

"Shit," Jake hissed.

"You got multiple bandages on besides those two," Donald added, sounding shocked. "What happened?"

"That's coming soon," I replied, turning to him. "And actually, as many times as I've seen this guy and stuff, Faith went through worse."

I turned to Faith then nodded to her to continue.

"Thank god I woke up or I would've been dead," she said. "Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of his hell for me. It happened earlier just shortly after I picked up my textbooks."

She turned to me.

"Doug also had a daydream of Freddy when he was here earlier."

A few gasps could be heard from the other five.

"But, anyway, I was looking around at the library earlier just to see what was there when I suddenly heard some creepy ass laugh," Faith continued. "It wasn't long until I found him. He told me that I reminded him of Nancy—"

"Nancy Thompson?" Chloe guessed.

"Yes," Faith answered. "The same girl who first defeated Freddy."

"And the one who originated the Dream Warriors, even though she ironically never had a dream power," Donald added.

"I don't know why this fucker considers me an equivalent to Nancy but I know one thing for sure," Faith continued. "He's pretty vicious when he's ready to attack and stalk someone. He tried to attack me but I managed to attempt to get away a few times, although he caught me. I tried using my textbooks against him. It stumble him temporarily before he got to me again. He threw me against a bookshelf twice and yeah, it hurt. He ended up giving me three wounds on my arm."

She gestured to her other bandaged arm. I heard a number of gasps from the others. I shuddered at the memory of seeing the blood pouring down.

Faith turned to me and I already knew what she was going to say.

"Fuck, if Doug wasn't there, I'd very likely be dead," she finished, shuddering.

A nearly uncomfortable silence fell between everyone else and Faith didn't say another word about her encounters. By the looks of it, everyone else was trying to figure out how to process everything that they heard. The silence went on for about ten seconds before someone spoke.

"Shit," Donald cursed worriedly, shaking his head.

"Well, Krueger is more relentless than I thought, dammit," Jake said rather coldly.

"And I thought we were the only ones who saw this creep," Mandy said, gesturing to the other four.

Mark and Chloe gave each other a quick glance before any of them said a word.

"Well, that's fucking brilliant," Mark sighed angrily.

"Yep, we're fucked," Chloe said.

I noticed something with the way how they reacted to Faith talking about her encounters. Donald sounded very worried for her, almost to how I felt when I first heard her mention her encounter. Mandy was also rather worried but also shocked. Chloe and Mark seemed to be rather worried and pissed but Mark didn't seem as worried as Chloe was. Jake though seemed only partially worried but mostly cold and almost indifferent.

The group of five turned to each other as I heard their voices.

"She sounds like she knows what she's talking about."

"We should help her and Doug with the whole Freddy thing. They might know more about Freddy than we do."

They turned to us as they (except for Jake) flashed a smile on their faces.

"Tell us what y'all know about this Freddy guy," Mandy said almost eagerly.

Jake turned to me then smiled.

"I'd rather hear it from you than her," he said. "I think she's said enough."

I tensed up slightly, already getting the impression that Jake didn't seem to take very much fond to Faith but more so seemed to take more fond of me.

Mandy though gave him a slight hit on his arm, shaking her head.

"Babe, behave," she said. "You don't even know what she's been through. You and Chloe have been worried for each other much like Doug and Faith."

"Yes, please don't be rude, Jake," Chloe piped up. "She's having the same dreams that we are. She and Doug might be able to give us answers."

I turned to Faith who seemed to take no notice to Jake's rudeness towards her. It surprised me but at the same time, maybe it was a good thing.

"Freddy really gets use of his glove with blades," I said. "He seems to change the world around us. Also, he's an ass."

Everyone around me nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we can do some research on this Freddy guy and then we'll go from there," Mark suggested. "Or at least skim through websites to see if they're reliable to use for anyone who decides to maybe take notes then sum everything up together. Let's just stick to two. Don't need an overload."

Everyone agreed with him.

"I don't think Chloe and I should be like the notetakers," Mark continued. "We're not the best notetakers."

Faith and I turned to each other, eager smiles on our faces. Both of us had been praised quite a lot for the notes that we had taken in classes in the past from teachers and even our parents were impressed. It gave us an idea because we wanted to figure out everything about Freddy before the Hypnocil got here.

"Doug and I will take care of that," Faith said cheerfully. "Considering that there's this thing called Hypnocil that'll be here in about five days."

"Then I guess we'll start with the looking for the sites," Chloe suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement as Mark opened up a laptop then placed it on the counter. Now this was going to get serious.

I turned to see Faith looking off in the distance, a look of confusion was on her face. I was almost afraid to ask her what was wrong but I had to ask.

*Faith's POV*

"Everything okay, Faith?" Doug asked.

A laugh had suddenly distracted me just after Mark had opened his laptop. I was staring in the distance, curious about where it came from.

Before I could speak, the laugh erupted again. This time, it was louder. I had to tell Doug before I decided to wander in the bookstore.

"I heard a familiar laugh," I said. "Lemme check to see if it's just some random toy in here."

No one said anything else as I walked down the aisle, the familiar laugh queuing up again. Only, it was even louder this time.

I was a bit suspicious if maybe it must've been a ghost or something but I forced myself to continue on. Maybe someone did leave a random toy or something in here that queued the laugh. Although, the more I thought about that, the more unsure I became.

I walked down one of the aisles, hoping to find that maybe it was just something small or if maybe I was hallucinating after what had happened earlier.

I forced myself to remain as quiet as possible, just in case if I heard it again. I didn't dare speak.

The silence though felt very unsettling as I looked at my surroundings. Nothing was really off, just the bookshelves with a shit ton of textbooks in their respective areas or places.

I wondered if maybe it was coming from outside because this place was literally close to the door that lead outside. However, I didn't want to wander off outside and then freak the hell out of Doug. I knew better so I just kept in the store.

Just before I peered over the window, I heard something but this time, it was different. It was not the laugh that I heard multiple times before. It sounded like singing which started off as faint, sounding like it came from children. It took me a bit to really pay attention to what exactly they were singing.

"One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again."

I tensed up when I heard it. Each time the children's voices repeated it, the louder it got. It began to heavily weigh on my mental state but I was determined to figure out where it was coming from.

I peered over the window to see what appeared to be three girls, most likely five or maybe eight, at the oldest. Two of them were holding a handle of a jump rope while the other was jumping.

 _What the hell is going on?_ I thought nervously.

I backed away from the window, shaking my head in disbelief. What the hell was I seeing? Was this some weird superstition or was I losing it yet again?

"I would be careful if I were you," a dark male voice said. "You wouldn't like to bump into me. Try turning around."

The voice sounded awfully familiar and it scared me. The same voice of someone that had haunted my dreams.

I didn't want to believe that he was going at me yet again but it was too late for me to think of that.

Instead of turning around to face my unknown stalker, I just continued to stare at the window with the girls playing jump rope and singing. I didn't want to turn to face the asshat again. And heading to where Doug and the rest were would mean turning to the creep behind me.

"I'd rather not," I replied bravely. "Don't need your ass torturing me again."

The laugh he let out left a cold chill on my spine but I refused to let it bother me.

"Aww, I thought you were suppose to be the pure-hearted one, little Faith," he groaned. "Where is your Goodman Brown?"

I almost gulped when he said this but at the same time, it wasn't entirely surprising, given that my mother had named me after Goodman Brown's wife, even though I was quite different from her, besides the obvious. It was all coming that Freddy would reference this all because of my name. Except there was one major difference, one that I was going to make clear.

"I'm single, bastard!" I hissed. "Besides, I'm only fifteen!"

Freddy just laughed but I still refused to turn to him. I didn't want to stare at him. It would mean lots of trouble.

"You won't turn to me?" Freddy sneered. "Then I guess I'll have to do things the hard way."

I still didn't turn to him. I was more focused on trying to find a way to find the others without turning back to Freddy.

"You wouldn't dare," I warned.

Almost immediately after I said that, I felt someone grab the sleeve of my shirt then threw me against the bookshelf. I gasped at the impact, stunned by the pain.

I had no choice but to look up to see it was Freddy Krueger. I knew it was him.

I crawled back away from him, my heartbeat accelerating due to the mix of adrenaline and fear inside of me.

That was when something came into my mind. I remembered thinking that I would ask Freddy why he was after me and Doug tonight but now, I wasn't going to wait. I was going to get the answers now.

I stopped in my tracks then stood up. Freddy was surprised to see me stop but I wasn't going to continue to run away all the time. Like in my daydream before, I would attempt to fight back.

"Why the hell are you after me and my brother?" I asked.

Freddy looked surprised, maybe over the fact that I had asked him this. Regardless, I wasn't playing any games this time.

"When you can't get the daughter of one of those who did this to me, the grandchildren will be my next step," Freddy answered quietly. "I was angry until you and Douglas came along. But I assure you that you, in particular, Faith, will never wake up again."

It was starting to make sense. I knew Freddy had quite a history with my mother but after he could no longer enter her dreams, Doug and I were the next ones.

I was absolutely horrorstruck. He was angry that he could no longer chase my mother until we moved to Springwood. He wanted to get to me and Doug almost out of pure revenge for not being able to get to my mother.

I was surprised that Freddy used Doug's real name, considering that Doug hardly went by his real name. It was just odd and out of the blue.

Thinking quickly, I pulled out a random textbook from a shelf then hid it behind me, just to not allow Freddy to learn my intentions. I was angry at him for trying to torture me and Doug, and even my mother. He was going to pay for his horrid doings.

"Did I mention this, you remind me so much of Nancy," Freddy continued. "But you're also different from Nancy. No boyfriend, but where is your young Goodman Brown? My love and my Faith?"

My stomach turned when I heard this from him but I swallowed hard to force back vomit. I didn't want to puke in this place because I didn't want Chloe and her friends to have to clean the mess and I didn't want to show any form of vulnerability to Freddy. I had enough of his acts.

I put on a brave face, still holding the textbook tightly and keeping it far from Freddy's sight.

"It's only just a dream so I suggest you shut the fuck up," I snapped.

Immediately after that, I used the random textbook that I held to hit him hard on his back. Freddy gasped in surprised as I quickly put the textbook back then headed for an aisle. I was so determined to get him to not find me that I wasn't entirely paying attention to what aisle I was in.

"That's a good try but maybe try sticking to what your name suggests," Freddy jeered.

He appeared right in front of me as I gasped in shock. I realized that maybe I shouldn't run away from him. He did the same thing during my last encounter with him.

"Of course, that would be a way to go," I said sarcastically.

Freddy didn't answer but instead, did something that I had predicted and that he did during all of my encounters with him.

He lashed his blades onto my right arm, blood was slowly oozing out of the wound.

Instead of screaming in agony like I had done before even though the pain was bad, I punched him in the face.

Freddy was angry at what I did. He threw me against a bookshelf, harder than before. Everything hurt as a gasp escaped from my lips.

"Faith!"

I widened my eyes then turned to see Doug standing right beside me, holding my right arm, eyes wide with shock. I knew he would notice it sooner than later.

"Daydreams again?" he wondered worriedly.

"Yes," I replied, a bit shaken from the the events I experienced from earlier.

Doug looked up to the counter where I saw five worried faces. The one who looked the most worried was Donald.

"Chloe, do you have a bandage or something?" Doug called to her.

"I might have some in the back," she answered. "Lemme check."

She left the counter while the others tried to muster the courage to speak.

"What the hell happened?" Mandy asked worriedly.

"The dreams," I answered. "That fucker Krueger got me good once again."

Donald quickly walked over to me and Doug, peering over my injured arm.

"Shit," he cursed.

He looked up at me, the worry was very clear on his face. It was almost an equivalent to how Doug would look at me whenever I had a nightmare or if I was hurt or something.

"Are you okay?" he asked, carefully stroking my hair.

I nodded but I had another thing to say before I was fully able to keep myself in order.

"I'm a bit shaken by the dream," I whispered that only Doug and Donald heard me.

I turned to Doug.

"I know why Freddy is attacking us," I said.

Donald backed up a bit, as if he were trying to give me and Doug some privacy. He was still very worried though.

"What did he do this time," Doug asked. "Besides injure you yet again?"

The entire dream came in so vividly that it wasn't going to be hard to tell him.

"I heard him laughing but I thought it was just something in here like a toy," I replied. "I tried looking around to see where it came from. Couldn't really find it. But then, the next part gets really freaking weird. I hear something like children singing something I had never heard before. I'll write what exactly they were singing a little later but it was creepy. I checked the window by the outside of the bookstore and saw three girls. Two were swinging a jump rope while the other was jumping. They looked to be at least five, if not eight at the oldest. Then Freddy came but I refused to turn to that asshat. It only gets even weirder from here, besides him once again comparing me to Nancy."

I paused for a few seconds to collect myself so that I would be able to finish telling my brother everything I saw from the dream without losing it in front of him.

"I guess Freddy somehow found out that Mom had named me after Goodman Brown's wife in that story so of course Krueger had to taunt me about that," I continued. "I hit him with a random textbook and tried to get away but he finds his ways. He threw me against a bookshelf twice, the second time being when I heard you call my name."

Doug looked absolutely horrified but I wasn't finished yet. I had to tell him what Freddy had told me why he was attacking us.

"I'm guessing Freddy had quite the history with Mom, given that he finally told me why he's attacking us," I said. "He was angry that he could no longer get to Mom and then when we moved here, she was already an adult. Freddy basically said that when he failed to get to Mom, he'd get to us."

"That sounds like out of literal revenge," Doug replied in shock.

"No shit," I said, getting back on my feet.

The song that the kids were singing was still playing in my head which told me that I had to tell, or rather show Doug and the others what exactly I heard.

"About the kids singing," I said, leading the way to the counter. "Lemme write it down and I'll show you exactly what they were singing."

Doug and Donald strayed close behind as I walked up to the counter.

"Is there a sheet of notebook paper and a pen that I can borrow for a few secs?" I asked.

Mark checked under the counter for a few seconds before handing me a sheet of notebook paper and a black pen. Perfect.

"Thanks," I smiled.

I looked down at the notebook paper, picked up the pen, then wrote down the little song that still played in my head, word for word.

 _One, two, Freddy's coming for you_  
 _Three, four, better lock your door_  
 _Five, six, grab your crucifix_  
 _Seven, eight, gonna stay up late_  
 _Nine, ten, never sleep again_

Every word I wrote down made the song play even louder in my head but I forced myself to keep my head steady. It wasn't long before I finished.

I pushed the pen and the notebook paper to the middle of the counter so that I could allow everyone to see.

Gasps could be heard from everyone. Jake, Mark, and Mandy eyed it from behind the counter, eyes wide with surprise. Doug and Donald peered over my shoulder. Doug looked horrified but Donald looked at it as if he were oddly familiar with it.

"Wait a second," Donald said.

Everyone turned to Donald, waiting for him to possibly comment on the words that I had written down.

"I've heard this before," Donald remembered. "If I'm not mistaken, the kids that are singing this in your dreams are the kids that Freddy had killed long ago in the boiler room of the power plant he worked at. It's Freddy's nursery rhyme."

"Oh hell no," Jake muttered. "And we thought you were the only one hearing it lately."

"Apparently not," Donald replied. "I've heard it twice in my dreams."

Before anyone could say another word, Chloe came to the counter, holding a bandage then handed it to Doug.

"What's going on?" she wondered, noticing that we were shocked.

"Faith heard Freddy's nursery rhyme in her dream," Donald answered. "She wrote it down here. And I thought I was the only one hearing it in my dreams."

Chloe looked down at the sheet of paper that I had written on earlier. Her eyes went wide in shock.

"Never heard this before," she said. "Only Donald has heard it."

This surprised me, considering that I heard that they all had dreams of Freddy but only Donald had heard the same thing that I did.

"Oh, and, we found the sites for you guys to look through," Chloe added, pointing to the laptop screen. "We went ahead and printed it out for you. We did skim through it and there's some interesting stuff on there."

She pulled out two papers, littered with typed texts on it. The first one looked like it came from Wikipedia while the other seemed to come from some kind of database.

"Well, damn," I said. "This shit about to be proven useful."

"Do you suppose Freddy might be after all of us because he wasn't able to get to our parents whose parents burned him in the boiler room?" Jake asked curiously.

That question left me in deep questioning for a few seconds. Sure, I learned that Freddy revealed that reason, hence his possible big history with my mother. However, if he was doing a similar thing to everyone else, hence why three people had already died, this would paint a scarier picture for everyone in Springwood.

"I think you might be right," I replied, though I heard a hint of disbelief in my voice. "Freddy told me something like that in the daydream I had a few minutes ago."

Everyone except for Doug gasped in shock (Doug already knew this since I had told him earlier) at the thought of this. This was shocking but did make sense.

If Freddy was after me and Doug, then surely, he was after the other grandchildren of those who burned him in the boiler room. He wouldn't just kill the three people right out of nowhere.

My mind tugged back to the conversation that Doug and I had with our mother about Freddy. Back when I thought it was some spooky tale. This made me especially worried for Mom. I didn't even know if she knew about this but now, I had new things to tell her.

I knew the one thing that my parents would refuse to do. They refused to put me and Doug in a mental institution for two reasons. One being was because of Mom's history with Freddy, something that Doug and I knew nothing about. The other thing being was that our parents had to trust me and Doug to find any answers that were lost in the past and could bring back to life.

The song still played in my head, this time, aggressively. It being Freddy's nursery rhyme, was as creepy as it sounded. The words painted a darker picture for Freddy's presence in our dreams. The notes created a haunting tune that would replay endlessly, like a creepy song put on repeat. The song on a whole created a creepy but catchy melody that would replay in your head over and over again.

However, it didn't wear on my mental state so much. Instead, it left me in deep thought about how I could attempt to use it in a counter. I had a thought that during my next encounter with Freddy, I would use his nursery rhyme against him. I wouldn't try to sing it out of just doing it in my next dream.

The entire situation though left me in serious deep questioning. I knew I had to break the news about Freddy to my mother because holding it back would be the wrong thing to do.


	12. Remember Me?

*Layla's POV*

I had just finished up with my recent client and headed for the break room. I had read Faith's text a few hours ago and I had never felt so worried.

Never did I thought that bringing up something that I thought was a myth was actually coming back and haunting my kids. Not just haunting them but also going as far as torturing them.

Not to mention that already three teens had died and the police were already ruling two of the deaths as suicide. It angered me because I knew who was really after all of today's teens here. I just didn't know why it was the case.

I began to wonder if I should break the news about my dreams of Freddy as a teen that occasionally came back to haunt me to Doug and Faith.

I especially thought about my long time friend, Maggie Burroughs who, being Freddy Krueger's daughter and about what she must've been thinking about the recent teen deaths and torturing done by Freddy, himself. When she had killed him with a pipebomb, releasing his dream demons and then he was sent to hell. Then to come back almost twenty years later and continue his doings.

It wasn't that long ago when I had texted Damien about what Faith had told us. It didn't surprise me that he was equally as worried as I was.

It was enough to get me to ask my manager if I could leave at an earlier time so that I could make sure that Doug and Faith were alright. Four was the earliest I could get, even though I wanted it to be earlier but I went with it without another complaint.

It was now eleven thirty as I pondered about what could be going on. Not just the recent teen death that so far, no name is given. I also pondered about what Freddy's plans were. It seemed so strange that he was now going after today's teens even though their older relatives were the ones that either encountered Freddy, himself, or burned him in the boiler room like my parents did.

I suddenly began to feel my eyes getting a little heavy, probably because I didn't sleep until two last night and I had woken up at six this morning.

I looked around me, trying to figure out something to keep me awake because there was no coffee in here. Anything to keep me away but without success.

It wasn't long before I had succumb to the sleepiness and wondered if I was going to dream or not.

I noticed the atmosphere around me felt empty and cold. It was very odd, considering that I remembered it being cool but comfortable in here.

I looked around me to find that the break room was fairly normal. This confused me greatly.

"Ah, so good to see you again, Layla. Remember me?"

I stopped in my tracks when I heard that... that familiar voice. It sounded so familiar after all of these years. The thought made me sick to my stomach.

"Where the hell are you?" I asked, checking my surroundings, trying to figure out where the familiar voice came from.

I was met with silence which didn't make me feel any better.

"Show yourself!" I shouted.

"Suit yourself, Layla," the familiar voice shot back. "You don't want to get hurt, do you? It would only worry your husband and your kids."

Without thinking, I turned around to see the familiar face of Freddy Krueger. The same horrible man who haunted me as a teenager. His eyes gleamed with interest as I took a step back.

Seeing him now only said more than enough to leave me terrified. However, I wasn't going to let him get away with his actions.

"What the hell are you doing here, Krueger?" I snapped.

"I should be asking myself the same thing after waiting all these years," he replied, smirking. "How funny is that?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Very funny, Krueger," I answered sarcastically.

He just laughed at my response, his eyes still gleaming with the hatred written deep within.

He eventually stopped laughing as a scowl appeared on his face. He let out a hiss, causing me to shudder.

I took another step backwards, thinking of a plan of how I could stop him from trying any of his tricks. Much to my horror, he took a step forward, smirking with pleasures possibly over the fact that he was attempting to toy with me like this.

"I may not be able to reach you again, but I'll make one thing clear," he sneered. "It won't be too long before I make sure that your kids will never wake up again, especially Faith."

My body shook with rage and fury when I heard this. Without thinking, I punched him square in the jaw then ran to the break room. I knew more than enough about his pursuit for Doug and Faith but what he said had gone over the line. I wanted to make him pay for causing so much trouble and disturbance.

After I was in the break room, I shut the door then locked it. Now I knew Freddy would have no chance trying to get me. At least I was sure of it at first.

I suddenly began to have a horrible realization that I might have made the wrong decision by locking myself in the break room. There was no window so any chance for an escape besides the front door that led to the hall was pretty much none.

I had only two options at this point. I would stay in the break room in hope that Freddy wouldn't come back even though there was no telling if he would leave or not. However, something in the back of my mind told me that I should try to risk trying to escape through the door immediately, even if it meant that Freddy may possibly kill me.

However, an idea flew into my mind. It was perhaps a clever one. I would try to trick Freddy into thinking that I was escaping, only to really attack him. That also was risky but I had to at least try to slow him down. I didn't want to try anything that would burn the spa down.

Taking a deep breath, I headed for the door then opened it to see Freddy standing across from the door, a twisted smile clearly shown on his face. I shuddered a little bit but I forced myself to be brave. I had to do it for Doug and Faith.

I turned away from Freddy, ready for my trick. I forced myself to hold back the smirk that was trying to form because I didn't want Freddy to know about my intentions. He would be clever enough to counter them.

"Where are you going, Layla?"

"Back to work, creep," I snapped, refusing to turn back at him. I was looking for something that I could use against him.

"Whatever you say," he growled.

I didn't say a word back at him. I was more focused on my little plan. One that would surprise him.

From the corner of my eye, I saw an old broom leaning against the wall. The brushes were covered with dust and other residue that I refused to identify. I never even noticed that it was here throughout the time that I worked here.

A cheeky smile grew on my face as I took it and hid it behind my back. I turned to Krueger, the expression on my face now turning serious. I had to be a subtle as possible with my intentions, just in case. I knew how smart he was, given how many times I had faced that god forsaken fool back when I was seventeen.

He turned to me, a puzzled expression was shown on his face. Was he really that incredibly suspicious of me?

"What are you doing, Layla?" he asked.

I took a moment to try to think of an excuse before I had a clever one in my head.

"I'm due to take care of some sweeping," I said, still keeping a tight hold on the broom behind me. "It's rather important because I wouldn't want this place to get filthy, especially on my last day here. Just going to leave on good terms."

He was silent for a moment as I circled around him for a moment, still hiding the broom behind me. I wanted to give him the impression that I was wondering where to start. It would only cause him more surprise, which was exactly what I wanted.

I finally stopped when I was behind him and he was facing towards the front door. Much to my surprise, he didn't turn back. Maybe he was just convinced that I was taking care of certain business, completely unaware that I was actually behind him.

I positioned the broom for me to strike him, still no signs of Krueger turning back. That was when it happened. With as much force and power as possible, I hit him on his upper back.

"What the—"

He turned to me as I gave him a cheeky smile, proud of what I had done. Judging by the dangerous look of anger on his face, I could tell that he was fuming.

"You fucking tricked me, you little bitch!" he hissed.

He was about to charge for me but then it happened. My eyes shot open and I gasped, realizing that I was still in my seat. I looked around for a moment, just to make sure that I was really back where I was.

When I turned behind me, I noticed one of my coworkers, named Sarah, staring at me with upmost concerned.

"What happened?" she asked. "I heard shouting."

I just smiled sheepishly before giving a reply.

"Nightmare."

Sarah eyed me in a concerned way.

"Freddy Krueger?"

I nodded.

"He's been after my kids ever since we moved here," I said. "Especially my fifteen-year old daughter."

I shot up to my feet then grabbed my phone from my pocket, thinking about my options. It was only our second day of living here and hell was coming for my kids. Having them sleep another night with Krueger would do enough t0 leave me more worried than ever.

Just before I found the name that I wanted to call, a thought suddenly raced into my mind. A good one, one that gave me a slight smile.

I turned to Sarah.

"Give me a sec," I said before turning to my phone.

I found the number that I wanted to call then waited for an answer.

After three rings, I heard an answer.

"Hello? Mom?"

"Faith, sweetie," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I need to tell you something. You'll have to tell Doug too. If I remember correctly, I know there's some staying awake aid pills at CVS or something but you have to get it from the counter. I'm not letting you nor Doug sleep another night with Krueger around."

"Yes, I hear you, Mom," Faith replied. "Doug and I just got home from the college bookstore. We met some people who have also seen Freddy in their dreams. However, I did see him again and I swear I was awake. I don't know what the hell is happening. I think it might be daydreams but I'm not completely sure..."

I knew it couldn't be micro naps because both Doug and Faith slept last night. It had to be something else. Then it hit me, remembering that they were rather imaginative.

"Damn daydreams," I muttered. "It is the daydreams."

I paused, wondering if maybe I could ask something else.

"Faith, do you think you'd want pills to help you to stop daydreaming?"

There was silence on the other line for a moment, the followed by indecipherable mutterings. I kept respectfully silent before I got an answer.

"I think we're gonna say no to that. The stay awake aid pills should be enough. Besides, we still have another four days left before we get the Hypnocil. We'll handle it."

I sighed before saying a word.

"Alright," I said. "Then just the stay awake aid ones. I know there's one that says it lasts up to eight hours. Get one of that. And, I'll probably get some coffee mix on my way back."

"Then it's settled. We'll make sure we get it ASAP."

"After you get that, stay inside the house," I said, my voice stern. "I managed to convince the cops on my way to work so now they're on alert and they said you can only leave the house if you absolutely must."

"Alright, thanks for letting me know. I'll make sure to keep that in mind. But, how the hell did you managed to get the police to believe you? The police didn't believe me when I told them."

Silence fell between us before I answered.

"Honestly, I don't exactly know. All I know is that I made damn sure they know what's going on. It's either let them know about this or our options become slim."

"Right," muttered Faith. "Meanwhile, we'll just have to look into what Freddy is capable of and maybe we can try to piece it up together in time."

The two of us said our goodbyes then hung up. I had never felt more worried than before. Oddly, it was enough to keep me more alert and on my feet.

"So that's why you're leaving here to go work at Westin Mills," Sarah said.

"That's partially why," I answered. "However, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help children with their dreams. However, I don't want anyone else here who doesn't know it yet to know why. The last thing I need is to cause a lot of paranoia and worry.

She nodded, understanding what I had said then turned to leave the break room, leaving me alone.

I didn't mind being alone. Plus, I had to take some time to digest my entire conversation with Faith before I went back to work. Not just that but my whole nightmare that I had.

I looked at the time on my phone to see it was 12:03. I sighed, realizing that I had four hours left until I could leave and check on Doug and Faith.

I hated for having to possibly try to force them into staying up all night for a few days until the Hypnocil got here. I didn't like that I was forced to put them on very little sleep but at this rate, it was my only option if I wanted them to survive.

"Dammit," I muttered as I put my phone in my pocket.

Throughout the rest of my work, I became restless and jittery. My paranoia had gotten quite high but I forced myself to stay calm.

However, I remembered only being brief with Doug with Faith about my history with Krueger. I knew I couldn't hide the full story from them anymore. I had to tell them as soon as I got home and it was crucial for them to hear everything I had to say for the sake of keeping Springwood safe and for Freddy to never come back.

Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me a long time to get this chapter out. I was kinda unsure about what to do with this chapter at first and almost made it somewhat of a filler chapter. However, I did manage to think of what to do with it is to look into Layla's connection with Freddy and such. There will be a chapter that'll be dedicated to their history that'll maybe guide her kids to try to stop Freddy but I ain't saying which chapter it is. It'll just be done soon.

Anyway, see ya later!  
-ReconditeAgony


	13. Clue On A Blog

*Chloe's POV*

I finished ringing up another college student, then turned to Mark, eyes wide with surprise.

"It hasn't been as busy today as it was for the past few days," I said, pushing my hair away from my face a bit.

Mark chuckled a bit then gave me a small peck on the forehead.

"You probably wish it was busier," he joked.

"No, I need it to distract my mind," I said seriously. "Freddy interrupts my sleep more than a newborn."

"Oh," muttered Mark, quietly chuckling.

An awkward chuckle escaped my throat at the absurd comparison. I had to admit, I was sure that my occasional wild comparisons would be enough to drive Mark into unease. However, every time, he would just give me a peck on the cheek, reassuring me that he liked what I said. It was damn sure something good to keep my mind off of that freaking demon dude that would do more than bother the hell out of me.

Shortly after the two new siblings had left, this place had gotten a bit busy. After I had rung up two people, Donald, Mandy, and Jake had left.

I'd be damned thinking that wouldn't have even thought about opening this bookstore on a Sunday, and school started tomorrow. It wasn't entirely surprising that some people were now on a dead-end rush to get their textbooks before classes started.

The same thing happened at the high school, which amused me. Mandy and stinker Jake had yet to get their textbooks, and I hoped they were making their way there to get them.

Now that it was empty again, this gave me time to really think about those two that I had gotten to meet. The first one, Doug, seemed like he was lost in his own thoughts when I first noticed him walking in the place. After getting to converse with him a bit, he seemed chill, almost as chill as Donald was.

Then his sister, Faith, I think it was. Overall, Faith seemed chill as well. Despite that, she seemed a little more outspoken. Everything she mentioned earlier was shocking to say the least, but I was sure that she knew what she was talking about.

It angered me to see Jake being how he was before, being bitter towards someone who Mandy seemed to warm up to. Every time Mandy seemed to warm up to a possible new friend, Jake would create a wall. It was like he did the same thing to Faith. I knew that when I would get home, I would give Jake a stern talking. It had even gotten to the point that Mandy seemed a little concerned about this kind of behavior. Jake had never used to be this possessive until he started dating Mandy.

"I didn't think Jake would be this rude," I said suddenly. "I mean, I wasn't expecting him to be so bitter towards that new girl."

"You're gonna lecture him, aren't you?" asked Mark.

Of course, he knew what I was going to do. I easily remembered telling him about how Jake could be at times.

"Of course," I replied, laughing a little. "He's not a brat, but I just hate it when he can be a bit rude to anyone who Mandy warms up to."

I sighed then decided to do a quick fix of the textbooks and making the shelves look presentable. Mark helped me with that as well. Despite that, my mind was wearing heavily on what I would say to Jake about his behavior earlier when I got home. I didn't want to be too harsh, but I also wanted to be honest that neither me, nor Mandy approved his bitterness towards Faith. I just hoped that Jake was ready to hear what I had to say.

*Faith's POV*

After coming back from the college bookstore, Doug and I retreated to our own rooms to take some time to ponder everything in our own spaces for a bit.

I was currently finishing up with writing my most recent dreams down my dream journal. The more I wrote, the more curious I became. It was more so about if any recent news had broken out after Doug and I talked to the police.

My thoughts began shifting all over the place. I began to think about this Maggie Burroughs person. I remembered Doug and I saying that maybe, there was a possibility that maybe, we would talk to her. However, when Mom had told us that unless if it's important like school related things for example, leaving the house would be the last thing for us to think about doing. And in the back of my mind, I was sure that Dad would be just as concerned, if not more than Mom about us leaving the house with this guy running around and killing kids. This at the moment put a halt to the plan. At least, that was the case for now, unless if either Mom could get ahold of Maggie or Doug and I would be able to get Mom's permission to get to Maggie's house.

After I finished writing, I put my journal on my nightstand, then got my laptop on my bed, turning it on in the process. The laptop itself wasn't terribly old, but it wasn't exactly new either. It didn't bother me so much though. I was pleased that it was in working, functioning condition. My phone was currently charging, and I didn't want to just use it while it was charging.

It took a little bit for the laptop to turn on which wasn't enough to say that it would need to be taken in soon. I was patient enough to wait for it to turn on before I did anything.

After signing in to my desktop, I clicked on the Google Chrome icon, knowing that it worked more efficiently than other internet browsers. I typed "Weston Heights Elm Street" in the search tab, slightly anxious if the news was true that his death was ruled as suicide, even though Mom had told the police otherwise.

Much to my surprise, the first link I saw was a link to a Tumblr page, seemingly looking like it was his. Normally, I wouldn't even attempt to try to understand Tumblr. It looked too confusing and too much of a hassle to figure it out. This time, I knew that I had to look on to see if there were any answers that he'd posted prior to his death.

Hesitantly, I clicked on the link, expecting to see too much complicated stuff happening. Much to my surprise, the layout seemed simple enough for me to just scroll down. The first two posts looked to have nothing to do with Freddy nor the dreams. Starting at the third post, things began to pick up.

 _August 9, 2017._

 _Weston here. I'm posting something else today because there's something I need to get off of my chest._

 _I've been having dreams about a burnt guy with a red and green striped sweater, a brown hat, and he has a glove with blades on the finger parts of the glove. I don't know if I'm the only one seeing him. He's wounded me before, and when I wake up, I have the wounds._

 _It's like, when I fall asleep and dream, I see this guy. He's always trying to hurt me. I don't know what it means, but it must mean something. Trying to go off and attempt to kill me doesn't make sense. I'm trying to get the word out there._

I shuddered, as I read this post. And the post looked like it was posted just less than a week before me and my family moved here. I felt a pang of pity for Weston, even though I never knew him personally. I just felt pity for him because he was now maybe fighting his hardest to survive against Krueger.

I scrolled down again to the fourth post to read it.

 _August 12, 2017_

 _This guy is starting to appear almost every time I go to sleep. I'm really starting to contemplate on whether I should sleep or not. I want to because I need rest, but I know that Krueger will show up when I dream. Am I the only one experiencing this?_

I couldn't help but feel even worse for Weston. I couldn't imagine putting myself in such a predicament nor could I imagine Doug putting himself in that kind of predicament. Trying to stay awake for as long as we were able to was already sounding like one of the hardest tasks ever. I scrolled down to the fifth post, this one managing to shock me at a profound level.

 _August 21, 2017_

 _I'm seeing this guy when I'm awake. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's real anymore. I haven't slept in three days. I don't want to sleep because I dream. And when I dream, I die. Someone help!_

I tried to fight back tears, the pain I felt for Weston was worse than ever. If only we had moved to Springwood earlier and I met Krueger earlier, maybe there was a chance to save him, along with other teens who were dropping like flies. Despite that, I knew that there was nothing that could be done, and it was in the past. The job was now to find a way to destroy Freddy before he killed anyone else. Still, I couldn't hold back any form of pity.

"I'm so sorry, Weston," I said softly, hearing the evident sorrow in my tone.

I scrolled down again, to what seemed to be the final post from Weston.

 _August 22, 2017_

 _Freddy's coming for you!_

My eyes widened in shock as I read the message. I was now hit with a strong pang of horror.

"Shit!" I hissed, shutting my laptop and the sound echoed throughout my room because of how silent it was in here.

"Faith, everything okay?"

I had almost forgotten I left my door open and that I wasn't quiet enough because Doug heard me. And to be honest, I wasn't even sure if I was fine, given what I just saw from these Tumblr posts. Luckily for me and Doug, I knew better than to lie, especially to him.

"I'm not sure," I answered with an uncertain tone, my eyes darting around the room just to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened. "There's something I want to show you though."

After a few seconds of looking around and deciding that maybe there wasn't anything weird happening, I looked down at my laptop then quickly opened it again to be greeted with the last post I read. I scrolled up to the first one when Weston mentioned Freddy. At around the same time, I heard footsteps making their way closer.

I turned to face my door frame to see Doug making his way in.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You have to read this," I said seriously. "I was just looking if there were any news that Weston's death would indeed be ruled as suicide. This ended up being the first link I saw. I think this is his Tumblr, his last four posts he posted before his death."

Doug nodded then looked through the posts. Meanwhile, I was beginning to think that Weston actually writing the last post seemed quite impossible. At first, it seemed like it wasn't adding up. However, after a good amount of thinking, a sudden realization hit me square in the face.

"This is insane," Doug said suddenly. "And that last post, what is that all about?"

I knew I had to tell him exactly what realization I had in my head. From Mom telling us about his death, to Freddy telling me he did kill Weston, everything hit me.

"Weston did die yesterday," I said. "And this post was posted yesterday, the same day he died. Freddy wouldn't just randomly kill someone without toying with them like he did with us. And Weston wouldn't just post this himself."

Doug seemed a bit confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Either Freddy posted this on his own, or he somehow made Weston post this," I answered. "Either way, I doubt Weston would post this himself."

Doug was shocked to say the least.

"That actually does make sense, sis," he said. "We just don't know if this was posted prior to Weston's death or after."

"Exactly!" I said. "This could be good evidence for the police. We should tell Mom and Dad too when they get home."

"Indeed."

Doug turned to me.

"What now?"

I was silent for a moment, my thoughts now shifting to Chrystal's death and Sharon's death. I began to wonder if maybe I should do the same and find answers about their deaths or if I needed some time to recuperate before continuing. I knew that Chrystal's death was not long after Weston's death. What I did know was that it was too early to really investigate Sharon's death, knowing it was just hours ago.

"I want to see if there's anything about Chrystal's death, but at the same time, I'm not so sure," I answered. "I think I've fried my mind enough for the day."

"You have," replied Doug. "You should take it easy. Besides, we'll probably head to the CVS shortly after Mom gets here."

I nodded, acknowledging what he said. I knew I needed to keep my head straight for when we would head to CVS. That would make the trip easier for both of us. However, with Freddy appearing in our dreams recently, it gave me a clear and daunting conclusion.

"I guess I'm just too focused on this Freddy guy," I admitted in an almost monotonous tone. "Last night and these recent hours have been absolute hell. Not only is he after us, he's doing it in his anger and revenge for not getting to Mom. I'm guessing he somehow got to Mom, but even that still can't take away what he's done to us."

From the corner of my eye, I could see that Doug seemed concerned, likely over my voice tone. I didn't blame him one bit.

"Damn, Faith," he said suddenly. "I don't like it when you sound like that. You sound numb or something."

I mustered up a weak chuckle. Our closeness resulted in many things, this one being when I sounded off, Doug was quick to notice, even when I tried to sound convincing, only to falter badly. I knew that sugarcoating was never a good idea. Doug was my big brother and I knew hiding many things from him would be just as bad as hiding things from our parents.

"You didn't lie," I said, still in my dead-like voice. "We haven't even been here for a week and I want this all to be over. It's more than enough for us to deal with."

"I don't blame you," replied Doug. "I keep forgetting we have to wait about four days for that Hypnocil."

 _Shit,_ I mouthed.

With how long we had to wait for that, and adding the dreams that we were having, it felt like it would be an eternity before the Hypnocil would get here. I knew trying to stay awake for that long would be just as dangerous. I didn't know what was scarier, falling asleep with the possibility of never waking up, or staying awake for so long, it's enough to be fatal.

"Now that you mention it," I began. "I really would want to stay up for however long we need to in order to keep Freddy away until we are able to defeat him. But at the same time, staying awake for that long would not be good for us."

"I did hear somewhere that staying up for over four days could be fatal," said Doug. "Staying up for three days could have one end up having micro naps."

"Oh god," I muttered, hugging my knees close to me.

I remembered Doug's fascination with especially sleep studies in psychology that had started up since he was a freshman in high school. He told me about micro naps when he learned about them, making me paranoid about staying up very late for almost three weeks. I began to worry that with Freddy around and us pretty much having to stay up late would mean a high chance for these kinds of dreams. Being daydreamers at quite a few intervals didn't help our case either.

"Well," I said. "This is one fucked up dilemma."

"You're right," replied Doug as he sat down beside me then wrapped an arm around me. "And I'm not liking where it's going."

"I don't blame you one bit for saying that," I said. "I know we'll have to stay up. It's just those damn micro naps that'll kill us."

My eyes shifted to the wall, my mind was racing at the thought of possibly having micro-naps after pretty much having to stay up until the Hypnocil got here. It just ached me at the deepest core of my sanity that Freddy was still around and dreaming always leading me and my brother to him.

Then, I thought about those five people who I met at the bookstore earlier, especially Donald, who heard the same nursery rhyme that I did. The nursery rhyme itself began playing in my head again. It was already agonizingly catchy.

"I'll admit one thing," I said, turning to Doug. "That nursery rhyme of Freddy's is catchy."

"I'll take your word for it, even though I haven't heard it, myself," conceited Doug.

"You sure?" I asked. "You don't have to until you actually hear it."

"I am," he answered. "Honestly."

I refused to argue with him, so I nodded, acknowledging him.

"I guess I'll head downstairs to take care of some dishes that I forgot to take care of earlier when we came back here," said Doug.

"I'll take care of that," I offered. "Something else to distract my brain."

"Alright, I'll let you have it," chuckled Doug as he got up from his seat.

I got up from my bed, then gave him a playful hit on his arm, smirking. He laughed as we both turned away to head to where we needed to be.

Doug went back into his room while I was making my way to the kitchen to take care of some dishes. This would certainly be something good to clear my head a bit. Doing chores in general typically always ended up clearing away my brain of anything stressful. I just hoped that it would do the same thing as before with clearing my head off of the events from earlier before I felt in the right state of mind to continue thinking about everything.

 **...**

 **Hey guys! I'm sorry this chapter took longer than usual. I was sidetracked with other stories and I was kind of unsure about what to do for this chapter. The idea of a filler-like chapter felt messy, even with previous chapters like this, but I figured it's best that way so that we don't have too much crazy chizz happening. And considering that in these past recent chapters, a lot has happened in a span of less than twenty-four hours. I'll try to find room for filler chapters so that we don't have too much happening quickly.**

 **Anyway, the next two or four chapters should be a little faster in getting them posted because I already have laid out on what will happen in them. The pace should pick up a little bit.**

 **My idea for this story is to be similar to the original ANOES, but at the same time, having some elements of the remake (including the mention of micro-naps). I've seen the original and I've seen multiple clips of the remake. The remake in my honest opinion, there's a lot they really could've done better. It's riddled with several flaws, but there are some things that are interesting. I can't completely bash it, but there are a lot of things that either could've been taken out or could've been executed better. The original though, while not perfect, is a masterpiece. I don't need to say much else.**

 **I did mention in another story that this would be one of the few stories I would keep mostly in first person, but recently, I've felt that my writing seems to be at its best when I'm writing in third person. I'll try that for these next few chapters and see how it goes. The same might happen with my other ANOES fanfiction,** _ **Creeper**_ **, which I am still working on, and hope to have it up soon.**

 **Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter and hope you enjoyed this one. :)**


	14. Sink Scare

*Third Person POV*

Doug was back in his room, deciding that maybe he could look through the articles that Chloe printed out earlier. He didn't want to necessarily read them, but rather skim through them just to at least prepare him a little more, should he end up having another dream.

He had never felt so overwhelmed over the entire situation. Hearing Faith say that these past several hours had been hell for them had never any truer than before. Perhaps even an understatement?

Doug was already longing for this to be over and to rid of these nightmares, but he knew that as long as Freddy Krueger was around and with not a lot of answers to the whole thing, it wouldn't happen. The thought ached the twenty-year old deeply.

All Doug could do was to glide his finger down the first page of the article, barely even bothering to actually read it. He was even barely keeping concentration on it because of his sudden restlessness. He decided to just save the reading at least by the evening.

After about two minutes, Doug couldn't just sit there anymore. He put the articles on his nightstand then stood up from his bed. He began pacing back and forth in his room, his mind was racing.

Doug wasn't just overwhelmed with everything, he was angry at himself. He was overwhelmed because of everything that happened. The nightmares and the daydreams were plaguing his mind like no tomorrow. He was angry at himself for not being able to wake up Faith before she got hurt or even before she got tortured by that fucking bastard.

"I should've saved her sooner!" hissed Doug. "Why was I so stupid?"

"Doug, you alright man?"

Doug stopped in place, realizing that Faith must've heard him. Just like how she had to be honest with him, he had to be honest with her. Lying to his little sister wouldn't sit well with him.

"I wish I was, but I'm not exactly," he replied quietly as he sat on his bed again.

He was met with silence for a few seconds before footsteps made their way to him. He knew that Faith was coming. He just waited patiently for his sister to come into his room. It wasn't long before she actually came into his room.

"What's troubling you?" she asked.

Doug didn't answer right away. He glanced down at the floor, his thoughts swimming all over the place. His thoughts daunted him, and he found it hard to decide where to start on his own explanation. After careful thinking, he looked up at Faith again, already noticing the concerned expression on her face.

"I'm just overwhelmed with everything," he answered. "I want to be the best big brother for you, but with everything going on, I'm worried that I haven't been as good as I hoped. I'm just- "

"Dude, you're the best big brother I could ever ask for," reassured Faith. "You're there for me as well as I'm there for you. I couldn't even ask for a better big brother, honestly."

Her brother smiled, feeling much better. He knew that there have been plenty of times when Faith was the best little sister he could ever ask for.

"You're the best," he said.

Faith smiled before she turned away.

"I'll be downstairs," she said. "If you need anything, just holler for me."

Doug nodded as he watched Faith leave his room. He was alone again, deciding that he needed to unwind his mind from everything. He took out his own copy of Frankenstein, almost chuckling to himself that he still had it after his freshman year of high school.

He stared at the cover for a long moment, memories playing in his head. He remembered having to read it for his English class freshman year, one of those few readings he actually found himself to enjoy. He though found it a bigger challenge to read it to Faith as just a fun thing, worrying that she would end up with nightmares. Unsurprisingly, she did have nightmares, but she constantly assured him that she liked it.

Doug still found it odd that he and especially Faith liked horror stories, at least for the most part. The only horror story that he and Faith would shy away from was It, mostly because of clowns. Doug refused to read that story at all, let alone read it to Faith for fun, something Faith was thankful for. He knew that even though clowns did freak him out, his little sister was more scared of clowns than he was.

After studying the cover, Doug turned to the page he left off then began reading, hoping for this to take his mind off of everything that happened. He also hoped that it would ease the restlessness he was feeling earlier.

Faith turned to the stairs in front of her, then slowly trudged down them, her footsteps being as quiet as possible as to not disturb Doug from doing whatever he was doing. The environment around the fifteen-year old was almost eerily silent, but she wasn't fazed by it. In fact, she refused to let anything faze her at the moment. She was focused on one task, and one task only.

After she made it downstairs, she turned to head for the kitchen, knowing the reason why she came down here. She turned on the light, then turned to the kitchen sink to see that there were a decent number of dishes that needed to be put in the dishwasher.

Faith smirked as she picked up the first porcelain plate, then turned on the faucet to start with rinsing the plate. She picked up the sponge sitting on its place. She began scrubbing the plate, but not too furiously.

To Faith, the process seemed to go by in a breeze. Usually, she would take her time, but today, this was different. She didn't know why. Was she anxious? Was she in the same restless state of mind that Doug was in earlier? She didn't know but for one, she sure as hell didn't want to know. She just went with it, convincing herself that maybe it was because she was anxious about a later errand, she as Doug had to take care of later. She glanced down at the sink to see that she had three dishes left to put in the dishwasher. Despite her surprising speed earlier, she just quietly chuckled to herself.

She picked up the third to last dish then began scrubbing it. After only a few seconds, she drifted her eyes to the window, watching the leaves from the nearby tree rustle from the summer breeze. To her, it was a peaceful sight, a nice change from all of the shit she was forced to endure earlier. It eased away some of the sudden unknown drive she had earlier. She was sure she didn't want to be stuck in that drive much longer or she would think that she was going crazy.

After finishing cleaning the third to last dish, Faith put it in the dishwasher. She knew she was almost done, and she hoped to finish these dishes before her mother came home. She didn't consider herself a perfectionist, but she did often make sure she was making good time so that it could all be done and over with.

Just before she was about to grab the second to last dish, the water suddenly turned off out of nowhere. Faith rolled her eyes, then pulled down the handle. She kept it in this position for ten seconds before pulling up the handle, in hope that maybe that would fix the issue. Much to her dismay and her bewilderment, the water didn't turn on.

"Dammit," hissed Faith.

She had to think quickly in order to at least attempt to fix what issues could go wrong. She wasn't exactly the best at fixing these types of issues, but she couldn't let that stop her. She tried messing around with the handle again, again without success.

"I may need a little help here!" she called. "Something's wrong here!"

The raven-haired teen shook her head as she tried to mess around with the sink to try to figure out what was happening. However, she was beginning to grow hopeless and she knew that her options were slimming down every minute.

 _Well that's just great_ , she thought, shaking her head again. _What now?_

The next idea to pop into her head didn't exactly sound right, but she figured that if she tried to put her hand down the sink and as far into the drain as she could go, she could maybe fix up a possible clog. She wasn't sure but she knew that it was now or never to try this idea. She put her hand in the sink to find whatever substance that was causing issues. The next thing to happen took her by shock as she felt something, or someone pulling her arm down the drain.

"Shit!" she cried as she used as much strength as she could to pull her hand out of the sink completely.

Faith struggled to pull her hand out of the drain even though she displayed more strength than what she was often misinterpreted as. It felt like an eternity before she was able to successfully pull her arm out of the sink, but much to her shock, that wasn't the only thing that came out. The familiar burnt hand with the familiar sweater came up, waving at her. Faith screamed as the familiar laughter followed, the hand of Freddy Krueger tried to reach for her hand.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted as she scrambled around nearby drawers for something she could use as a weapon.

The raven-haired teen was about to grab a spatula as a weapon when she heard a pop. She turned to see Freddy's head pop from where the faucet was supposed to be. She was horrified to say the least, but she didn't scream. Thinking quickly, she turned back to the open drawer to find the spatula she was looking for to use as a weapon.

"Dream and clean? My, how amusing," he laughed. "Is that your favorite game?"

"Get out!" screeched Faith as she began hitting his head repeatedly with the spatula. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Faith! Faith!"

The teen in question snapped back into reality then turned to see Doug coming downstairs. She could see the concern clearly shown on his face.

"Are you okay?" asked Doug.

His sister didn't answer right away, and he didn't blame her. He could see that she was struggling to bring herself back into reality. However, it wasn't too long before she spoke.

"I was daydreaming again," she answered quietly. "Thought our sink stopped working. Then, he appeared."

She checked herself just in case if Freddy left any wounds on her. Much to her surprise and relief, there were no new wounds. A laugh escaped her throat, mostly because she was beyond pleased that she didn't suffer any injuries from him.

"Dude," she said. "That's the first time I've dreamed of that douchebag and he didn't even hurt me. I woke up unscathed."

"Saying I'm glad you weren't hurt in your daydream would be one hell of an understatement," replied her brother. "You want me to take over?"

"No, that's alright," said Faith. "It's just two more."

She paused before speaking again.

"Unless if you want to stay close to watch my back," she said.

Doug couldn't even pass this up. He was worried that Faith would probably daydream again and if he wasn't there in time, it would hurt him to imagine what could've happened.

"I'll stay here with you," he answered.

Faith nodded as she turned to finish up the last two dishes. She was silent during the ordeal, and Doug was silent too, just so that he wouldn't disturb her until she was finished.

It wasn't long before Faith finished, and she was relieved that she didn't have a daydream. At the same time, the Knight sibling duo suddenly heard the front door open.

"I'm home, Doug and Faith!"

The kids in question smiled at the familiar voice of their mother. They knew they had quite a bit to explain to her before they would leave for the errand their mother requested them to take care of.

 **...**

 **Hey guys! I am gonna be honest. As I have been writing this chapter, I've been liking the third person POV that I've been putting more of on here. I may even carry this one for the rest of the story.**

 **Next thing, I want to clarify two things. I know I originally put Doug's age as nineteen but in later chapters, I was an idiot for not remembering that and because of that, I kept putting twenty. So, for a clarification, Doug's age is actually twenty. Disregard the original age in the first chapter. Another thing I want to clarify, I'm going to have three protagonists in this story, one of them being the main one. You've probably already figured out the first protagonist and maybe the second. The third though, you'll have to wait until later.**

 **This chapter was originally gonna be just another filler chapter, but recently, the idea of Freddy showing up during Faith's chore swam in my head and I couldn't just keep it in.**

 **With a lot of ideas swimming in my head and a recent twist I decided to put in here, expect this story to be updated a little more often than others.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	15. The Full Story

Jake was home in his room, feeling incredibly exhausted and he could barely remember the last time he had decent sleep. His girlfriend Mandy had decided to come home with him as well. They earlier walked to Springwood High School to get their textbooks before heading home.

"Maybe you should get some sleep, even though we know what's going on," suggested Mandy. "I'll leave shortly and also, it's best for you to be in a good mood for what Chloe has to say to you."

Jake sighed.

"I know, Mandy," he said quietly. "I don't want to though. I see that guy when I close my eyes and dream."

He turned away from her, his thoughts turning to how he acted at the bookstore earlier. He felt terrible for practically snapping at that new girl. He wondered if it was because he hadn't slept well or something. Maybe he did need to cool off for a moment before he had to face a lecture from his older sister.

"You know what?" he said at last. "Maybe you are right. I feel terrible for snapping at that girl."

"You've been quite snappy ever since Freddy came around," said Mandy. "Hell, you've even been snappy around your own family. Maybe Chloe may want to cheer you up. Just get some rest before you get a lecture. I'm leaving."

She and Jake kissed then Mandy headed out of the room, leaving Jake alone. However, before Mandy was about to head down the hall, she turned back to Jake.

"I wonder if Charlene and Kristen know anything about this," she said suddenly. "I think Charlene knows Weston."

"Who knows if we'll see them?" replied Jake. "I mean, I know you, Char, and Kris will be juniors and that. Weston was going to be a junior as well. Chances of me seeing them are pretty null."

Mandy nodded, acknowledging that her boyfriend made a good point. She remembered her two friends from middle school, and now, this gave her some incredulous curiosity.

"Well, I think Charlene works at that CVS that Donald works at," she said. "Maybe you'll see her there and if you want to ask her, that's fine- "

"Doesn't Kristen work there as well?" interrupted Jake.

"No," replied Mandy. "She works at that diner place, Springwood Diner or something like that."

Jake nodded to acknowledge that he understood his girlfriend.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Mandy. "I love you."

"Love you too, and see you tomorrow," smiled Jake.

Mandy turned away from the room, shut the door to Jake's room, then headed down the hall, leaving Jake alone.

Jake thought for a moment before deciding that maybe, he deserved a nap, at least until his older sister came home from her shift at the college bookstore.

He nodded off to his door as he laid down on his bed, slowly but surely closing his eyes.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Yes?" called Jake, opening his eyes when he heard the knock.

Much to his surprise, there was no answer. Instead, he was met with an eerie silence, soon after to follow was laughter that sounded menacing. The world around him grew cold and he wasn't entirely sure at first if he was dreaming or not.

"What the fuck?" he muttered.

"I'd watch that mouth if I were you, Jacob."

Jake knew that voice as he quickly got out of his bed to look around his room. He checked his bed, no one was there. He checked his closet, no one was there. He was just about to leave his room when he noticed a shadow passing by on the wall.

 _The hell_? he wondered.

The seventeen-year old didn't dare say a word out of worry that he would attract the possible intruder's attention. All he did was grab his baseball bat that was leaning against his nightstand, then held it in a position that showed he was ready to hit something or someone.

After that, he walked slowly to the front door of his room, still curious if someone decided to snoop in his house. He didn't think it would be Chloe, as she wasn't due to be home for another ten minutes. He didn't think it was his parents either because he knew they were both working and would be home five minutes after Chloe. He also very much had doubt that Mandy would come, as she walked back to her own house.

"Just turn around, Jake," said the voice.

Jake reluctantly turned around to see the burnt man with the sweater, hat, and gloves he had seen before. He jumped in surprise, a gasp escaped from his throat. Despite that, he kept a tight hold on the baseball bat.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing in my room?" he snapped.

"I came here to give you a little reminder that maybe, you shouldn't be rude to newcomers," chuckled Freddy. "Didn't Chloe and Mandy teach you that?"

"Shut up!" yelled Jake as he began hitting the dream demon repeatedly with his baseball bat. "It's just a dream, you fucking asshole!"

"We'll see about that." The laughter of Freddy Krueger was menacing enough, but not enough to stop Jake from continuously hitting him with the bat.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Jake?"

Jake opened his eyes in surprise. He sat up on his bed then scanned around his room, only to notice that the dream demon was nowhere in sight. He sighed in relief at whatever stuff happened earlier was only a dream. It wasn't bad.

"Come in," he replied.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal his older sister. Jake turned to face her, wondering what she would say.

"You want to come with me to CVS?" asked Chloe. "Mom asked me to go get some things from there and she suggested to me to ask you to go with me. With that guy around, I kinda don't want to go alone."

She noticed a small smile show on her brother's face. She was hopeful, but she didn't show it yet.

"I will," answered Jake.

"Thanks," smiled Chloe. "Also, please be nice next time. Mandy and I weren't pleased to see you being rather rude to that new girl. Tell me what's up, please?"

Jake looked down for a moment, now thinking about what he told Faith earlier. He felt guilty for his attitude and trying to justify himself would do nothing. He knew he could be a little stubborn and such, but this was too much for him.

"Fucked up sleep schedule because of that asshole," he said quietly.

"You're not the only one," added Chloe. "And you're not the last either. We can only hope to stay awake and alive then get some answers about the entire thing before we can destroy him."

She paused before she turned for the door, her curls bounced a bit as she did so.

"Get ready," she said at last. "We're leaving in five."

With that said, she rushed out of her brother's room. Jake was alone again. The conversation with his older sister did give him a bit of a surprise. He was expecting a full-blown lecture from her. Instead, she just gave him a small warning.

He chuckled quietly to himself as he quickly went to put his shoes before running to the living room to meet Chloe. He hoped this trip would run smoothly.

— — — — —

"I have a lot to get out of my chest about Freddy," said Layla as she placed her bags on the dinner table then headed for the couch. "And about other things. I just had to come home early to break what I'm about to say to you."

Faith and Doug had just left the kitchen to join their mother who was now sitting on the couch. They kept their attention to her, knowing full well that this was important.

Layla was silent for a moment as she turned to her son and daughter, a wave of nervousness hitting her harder than the first time she mentioned the story to Faith. The memories were becoming clearer and her mind raced for several seconds, the thought of now having to reveal the full story of her encounters with _him_ was wearing almost heavily on her mental state.

She took notice of the bandages on her children, including a new one on Faith's right arm. It troubled her to see Doug and Faith already injured, even though they've lived in Springwood for about twenty-four hours. She looked up at them again, forcing herself to muster up the courage to speak.

"It's horrible to remember, but I have to break everything I know to you, about my dreams," she said.

 _I remember my parents were one of the people who killed Freddy in the fire ten years before I was born, it happened in 1968. I was three when Freddy started his murder spree in kids' dreams, though my parents rarely spoke of it, because they were worried it would scare me._

 _However, the nightmares began when I was about sixteen. This was long before Maggie Burroughs had defeated Krueger for good. Freddy would always want to play with me and even hurt me a few times, though not to the extent that you two have suffered._

 _My dreams with Freddy pretty much had a similar formula, he would chase me, taunt me, and all this other shit. He came close to killing me five times._

 _However, the dream I remembered the most was my last dream with Freddy, also the final time he came close to killing me. I was seventeen at the time. In my dream, I was going for a stroll in my backyard, nothing out of the ordinary. It was calm, peaceful and quiet._

 _Unfortunately, that quietness was rudely interrupted when I heard a bit of creaking on a fence or something. I looked around to see who was causing the creaking. I didn't catch anyone, but I did see a shadow of someone passing by the fence. It was dark as hell so I could barely see shit for a bit, but I did hear_ his _laughter. I knew it was Freddy, and I knew I couldn't just stand there and die. I ran away from him by heading back into my house, then to run to the front door. Freddy of course has all this supernatural stuff on hand, so he followed me out to the street. I tried to run away from him again, but unfortunately, he caught up with me. He carefully slashed my leg, causing me to gasp from the stinging pain, then he was about to strike me._

 _Much to my surprise, the one thing that woke me up was my alarm clock. My mother was in my room, worried for me. She proceeded to tell me that she was glad we were moving away from Springwood the next day, though we were really moving because of my father's job._

 _I remember when my parents had just finished packing up to move to Columbus, Ohio. Before we drove away from the house, my mother told me, my two sisters, and brother that_ he _can't hurt us anymore. Ever since, I've suppressed the memories, only telling them like it was some old folk tale that someone made up. It was much easier to keep it like that._

Layla began to feel a tremendous weight lift from her shoulders, even though she went into the deepest core of her subconscious to remember this kind of memory. She remembered suppressing the awful memories from her teenage years after moving away from Springwood, almost not expecting to return to Springwood years later.

She could see the shocked expressions shown on her kids. She couldn't blame them. Her nightmares had started sixteen years after her parents got involved with burning Freddy to death along with other parents.

The mother's thoughts turned to her most recent dream. The dream though amused her a bit.

"I had a dream about Freddy earlier at work today," she continued. "He was stalking me, and I tried to find a way to get away from him. I then thought of a plan, one that amuses me. I picked up a broom, told Freddy that I was going to sweep the area, only to hit him with the broom. It was funny."

"He had it coming, didn't he?" said Faith. "But honestly, seems like this guy is unstoppable."

"Not unless you pull him out of your dream," replied Layla quietly. "I don't know if everyone who's had these dreams actually possess the ability. There's really no way of telling, and I'd rather not know that now. You two are in danger, and having you stay awake at least for tonight is what I must do. I don't like it either, but it's for the best. Your father is worried sick for you."

"Mom, my driver's test is in two days from now, and I'm worried about possibly getting micro naps during that," added Faith, sounding worried. "And I see him, possibly causing an accident or something."

Both Layla and Doug turned to the girl, both looked worried for her. The atmosphere around them fell uncomfortably silent until another word was spoken.

"You can sleep, and I'll keep watch on you," suggested Doug. "If it looks like you're having a nightmare, I'll try to wake you up."

His sister smiled and his mother nodded in agreement. It pleased him that they were onboard with this plan.

"However, there's one thing I'd like to add to that," said Faith, turning to her brother. "The next night, I'll let you sleep and then I'll stay awake to watch over you."

"Are you sure?" asked Doug. "I don't mind- "

"Dude, I don't want you to deter your health just because of me," interrupted Faith, sounding insistent and blunt. "Fair thing to do."

Doug didn't argue back. He knew when the tone in Faith's voice sounded insistent, she meant it. And the bluntness in her tone told him that trying to change her mind just wouldn't do. She already made up her mind.

"I trust you on this, sis," he said. "I just worry about you stay up for me because you're my little sister after all. You've been through worse since these nightmares started."

"You two have it settled, cool," smiled Layla as she got up from her seat.

Faith though turned her mother, feeling somewhat unconvinced, as another thought ran in her head. It was something that she remembered thinking about before she found Weston Heights' Tumblr page.

"Mom, what about Maggie Burroughs?" she said. "You mentioned that we could see her, but that was before we were given a bit of a curfew. Should we still visit her to get some answers or would you go ask her?"

"I think I'll talk to her myself," replied Layla. "Maybe taking your father with me. He should be home in about thirty minutes, though I know you'll be leaving again to get the stay awake pills."

Her kids nodded, showing they understood her.

"When are you leaving?" asked Layla as she stood up to get something from her bag.

Doug stood up not long after his mother then grabbed the keys to his truck from the counter.

"In five," he answered. "I don't want to be out so late."

Faith stood up then followed him, not saying a word. Even though she knew it was just to get one thing, she was worried about possibly dreaming or even her brother dreaming during the whole thing. Daydreaming for both siblings always seemed to happen at random and even at intervals neither could exactly control, that being unless she and Doug got ahold of the Hypnocil.

The next thing she did was stare at the wall, her thoughts now shifting to how much her mother had gone through with that monster. She wondered about what the next insult she could come up with the next time she would encounter Freddy, especially for attacking her mother. She wondered how she would fight Freddy next time, considering that she was much less than terrified of him now.

Doug turned to Faith and noticed that she was staring at the blank wall with a sliver hint of agony in her eyes. He could see the somewhat blank expression on her face, though he knew that deep inside, she was troubled.

"Faith?" he said, snapping his fingers at her. "You okay? You're spacing out a bit here."

Faith snapped her head back into reality when she heard Doug snap his fingers. She shuddered when she realized that she did indeed become lost in thought.

"Crap, sorry," she said, turning to her brother. "I just have a lot on my mind."

The twenty-year old gave his sister a comforting hug. He knew what she meant, and he couldn't blame her.

"We can discuss it on our way there," he said quietly enough that his mother didn't hear him.

"I heard that you two had a predicament with seeing Freddy during your textbook errand," Layla said suddenly.

Her two children turned to her then nodded, both remembering their encounters. None of them spoke for about ten seconds.

"You're not wrong," said Faith quietly. "We had two encounters in a span of less than three hours."

She paused for a few moments and was about to speak again but her mother gestured to her not to.

"You don't have to talk about it, at least right now," said Layla.

Faith was conflicted at this point. She wanted to tell her mother about her dreams, but at the same time, she wasn't sure if she was in the right state of mind to do so.

However, before she opened her mouth to speak, an idea flashed in her head. A tiny smile came across her face at the idea that she had.

"Let me get something," she said.

Before her mother and brother knew it, the raven-haired girl ran up the stairs.

"What is she-" began Layla.

"She's likely gonna show you rather than tell you right off the bat," interrupted Doug.

Layla facepalmed, slightly embarrassed that she didn't realize this from the beginning, though it wasn't the first time for this to happen. She knew that on several occasions, there were times that her son knew more about her daughter than Layla, herself. She didn't blame him though, she knew he had a very close relationship with Faith.

The elder son turned to his mother, deciding to tell her his own story. He wasn't as shy to tell her about his nightmares, unlike his sister who often preferred to write it all down then have her parents read it.

"He gave me quite a few scares," he said. " _He_ scared me with his finger knives picture on my English textbook, then he scared me again with his laughter."

His thoughts changed to what Faith showed him earlier about one of the deaths. The thought worried him.

"Faith did show me Weston Heights' Tumblr blog, which he documented his stuff with Freddy," he said. "I think Faith was going to check if Weston's death was really going to be ruled as suicide, until she found that."

"I'll have to check up on that," replied Layla. "Anything else?"

"Faith wanted to check on stuff for the other two teens' deaths, but I suggested for her to take it easy," added Doug. "She's had more of these kinds of bad dreams than I did."

He paused, noticing the shocked expression on his mother's face. He was about to speak again when he heard footsteps making way down the stairs. He turned to see it was Faith, holding her dream journal in her hand.

"Sorry it took a while," said Faith, turning to Layla. "I had another dream shortly before you came home, so I had to write it down."

"No issues," smiled Layla. "Your brother was just telling me about that blog you found."

Faith froze in place for several seconds, the song from the children she heard this morning suddenly played in her head in a constant loop. For some reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on, the last post she read instantly made her think of that song. After that, she shuddered herself back into reality.

"That reminds me that I should look up who was the last victim of Freddy before we came here," she said at last.

She opened her journal to her entry from earlier this morning then handed the journal to Layla. Layla took it without a word.

"I'll look at it later," she said, noticing that her daughter pulled out her phone.

Doug watched his sister typing something on her phone then she scrolled down to something. After that, she looked up, eyes wide with horror.

"The last victim was someone by the name of Jesse Braun," she said. "Died in his jail cell, happened in two thousand ten."

She put it back in her pocket, shaking her head in disbelief.

"We can go ahead and go," suggested Doug to her. "You've been through a lot today."

Faith nodded as she let Doug lead the way and she followed behind him. She hoped this trip will go well.

"Be careful!" called Layla.

"We will, Mom," replied Doug before he shut the door behind him.


	16. Meditation, Bad News, and Pharmacy Chase

Mandy arrived home, her thoughts now turning to wondering if she'd be able to get any sleep tonight. School was hours away, but her sleep had been less than satisfactory for the past few days, and sleeping was something she had dreaded for the past few days now. She shook her head at the thought as she went to open the passenger door of her car to take out her own textbooks.

After shutting the door and locking her car, she walked to the front door then went to find her keys in her pocket with her free hand. She opened the door to see her mother, named Madison, standing in the middle of the hall.

"Hey sweetie, how was everything?" asked Madison.

"No dreams at least," replied Mandy. "I met two people at the bookstore this morning. Names of Doug and Faith and they seem like nice people."

"That's good," smiled Madison. "I'm glad you found some other friends. How's Jake?"

Mandy froze, remembering Jake's recent bitterness that seemed to show. She felt an unexpected pang in her heart, the more things about her boyfriend hurt her.

"He's okay," she replied quietly. "But he was kind of rude to Faith. Chloe and I had to tell him off. I think it's these dreams that's making him irritable."

"You mean that guy with the sweater, hat, and the bladed glove?" asked Madison.

Her daughter nodded.

"I know I wasn't the first in this town to start having these dreams," said Mandy almost sadly. "Jake told me about this guy. I know that someone must've started the talk, I just don't know who."

Madison could see how distressed her daughter sounded. It wasn't the first time she had seen her like this, nor would it be the last, until Krueger was stopped. This even raised questions.

"You think Jake was told about what's happening before he told you?"

"I'm sure of it, Mom. In fact, it was Charlene and Kristen who told him."

Mandy sighed then looked down at the floor. Remembering the time she saw Faith walk up to the counter at the bookstore with cuts on her arm replayed furiously in her head. She knew who was behind this and the thought made her sick to her stomach.

"Why don't you practice your meditating again before you have dinner," suggested her mother. "You can calm yourself down before you freak out on me."

"I will," smiled Mandy as she trudged her way upstairs.

After walking upstairs, she headed to her room then shut the door. She carefully placed her five textbooks on her desk, barely taking noticing at how heavy carrying them were until she had to lift them up a little more to be able to place them down.

After placing the textbooks on her desk, she noticed that her arms were sore. She couldn't help but quietly laugh at herself for thinking she would barely take notice.

"Damn, I should start lifting soon," she chuckled as she pulled out her phone and her keys from her pocket.

She put both items on her nightstand then kicked off her shoes before getting on her bed. She never really taken to account how stressed she was from everything. School was tomorrow, her sleep was diminishing down because of... _him_ , and she was worried that even her meditating wouldn't help her from her nightmares.

Mandy positioned her legs in a butterfly position then closed her eyes. Each breath she let out was her releasing all the shit she had been through. She liked doing this, especially as something to do alone when she wasn't hanging out with Jake. However, she didn't realize that her meditation time was about to take a dark turn.

She slowly opened her eyes to hear faint singing. She couldn't make out the words at first, so she got out of her bed, only for the singing to become clearer.

 _One, two, Freddy's coming for you_

 _Three, four, better lock your door_

 _Five, six, grab your crucifix_

 _Seven, eight, better stay up late_

 _Nine, ten, never sleep again_

 _That's weird_ , Mandy thought to herself.

She walked to her window then peered out to see three girls outside of her window. Two of them were standing on opposite ends, holding an end to a jump rope and swinging it for the third girl to jump.

"Oh shit, this is what Donald and Faith heard," she said, shuddering.

The air in her room suddenly felt cold, but she couldn't pinpoint why. It wasn't long before she felt like she was shivering on the inside. She hated it, hated being as cold as she was.

"You need a blanket, Amanda?" asked a voice that Mandy found all too familiar. "All that meditating must be making you chill."

The girl gasped at the voice then looked around for her stalker, her breathing slowly beginning to accelerate and her heart pounding in her chest from the profound fear. She didn't dare speak at all, let alone a "who's there" because she knew it would be a sign of trouble. She had watched too many horror movies to even pass up this rule.

She kept looking around her room, hoping that she would find any success in looking for _him_. The song kept replaying in her head like a record player stuck on repeat.

 _SCREEEEEE!_

The brunette turned around, looking for the source of the sound. It sounded like someone was scratching a knife on the wall, something she found extremely strange.

 _SCREEEEEEEEEE!_

"What?" gasped Mandy, still unsure of where the sound was coming from.

She looked around her room again, but nothing came about. The thought scared her, and at this point, she wasn't sure whether if it was the singing that scared her or the sound of knives scratching on the wall. Worse to come for her, the singing and the screeching-like scratch sound got louder.

 _One, two, Freddy's coming for you_

 _SCREEE!_

 _Three, four, better lock your door_

 _SCREEEEE!_

 _Five, six, grab your crucifix_

 _SCREEEEEEEEE!_

 _Seven, eight, better stay up late_

 _SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

 _Nine, ten, never sleep again_

 _SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

What followed was a completely different sound, something Mandy wasn't expecting at all.

 _TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!_

It sounded like someone was tapping the wall with a knife or something. Mandy wasn't sure, but she was determined to find who was doing this.

"Found you, Amanda."

She took a sharp inhale then turned to see who it was. Freddy Krueger. Her eyes widened with horror at the burnt man. He slowly waved his bladed gloved hand slowly, as if he were trying to taunt her with his personal weapon of choice.

Mandy squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge this creepy guy.

"It's just a dream," she tried to convince herself. "This isn't real."

"Sorry to break your mediating thoughts," said the dream demon, circling around the brunette. "But here's the truth."

He paused, smirking at the girl's fear of him.

"I am real," he finished.

Thinking quickly, Mandy gave him a sharp kick in the groin then opened the door to her room, running as fast as she could. She was frantic, but she knew there were things to be on the lookout for. She ran to the front door, hoping to attempt to get out of here before he could get her.

Unfortunately, before she could turn the knob, the dream demon grabbed her arm with his hand.

"Come to Freddy," purred Freddy.

"God damn you!" screamed Mandy. "It's only a dream!"

He just laughed at her as she screamed, fearing for her life. She didn't want to die here. All she wanted to do was to survive whatever nightmare she was living in, one that this horrid man decided to create for her.

Mandy woke herself up with screaming for five seconds. Panting and in a cold sweat, she looked around frantically to see if the man she saw earlier was around. Much to her relief, he wasn't. However, the dream had scared her so much. Now, sleep was the last thing on her mind.

"Mandy! Are you okay?"

She turned to the front door of her room to see that it was only her mother. She felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment for possibly scaring her mother to death.

"I'm-I'm sorry," she said between breaths.

Madison could see that her daughter was in a startled state of mind. She walked into her daughter's room then went to comfort her.

"It's okay," she said softly.

Mandy immediately hugged her mother as tightly as she could without hurting her. She had never felt so scared in her life, and a realization began to hit her square in the chest.

"Crap!" she hissed, letting go of her mother. "I must've fallen asleep."

Her mother gave her three pats on the head to try to comfort her daughter.

"Dinner is just about ready," she said.

Mandy quickly got out of her bed and followed her mother downstairs, mostly so that she could distract herself. At this point, she was now considering maybe staying up late. It had been about a few days since she learned about Krueger and she had told her mother about it, though she was initially worried that her mother would think she was crazy.

— — — — —

Layla was in the living room, waiting for her husband Damien to be home. She had ultimately decided that if she was going to talk to Maggie Burroughs about the recent things, she refused to go alone.

She remembered the first time meeting Maggie. She was working in the same facility as Maggie, this being around the time Maggie had learned about being Freddy's daughter. Though Layla and Maggie had been good friends, Layla was worried for her friend.

Layla had on the TV as some background noise to keep distracted, especially because of how worried she was for her son and daughter.

However...

"President Trump- "

Layla immediately turned off the television, not wanting to see the face of a man who was just as vile as the man who used to try to murder her and who was now trying to murder her kids.

Right after that, she heard the clicking of the front door unlocking. Her lips stretched to a smile when she saw her husband open the door. He too smiled at her.

"Hey, Layla," he said cheerfully.

"Hi, Damien," she said.

She quickly walked to him then gave him an affectionate peck on the forehead. After everything that happened, she couldn't hold back doing so.

"How are you, honey," he asked.

She was silent for a few seconds, wondering how she would explain everything that she went through and what she heard earlier today briefly. That was until she remembered something she told her kids.

"We have to talk to Maggie Burroughs," she said seriously. "Soon, at least, if not now. I'll explain everything later."

Damien set his bag down against the wall across from the kitchen, nodding to his wife in agreement. He knew enough about the tale of Freddy Krueger that now; it was best to talk to someone who had a good amount of knowledge about Krueger.

"You know where she is?" he asked.

Layla didn't take long to answer her husband's question.

"She's a few houses down. We should probably leave soon. I can let her know so that it doesn't look like we popped in unannounced."

Before she and Damien could make a move, they were interrupted when they heard a phone ring. Layla groaned at the unexpected interruption to her plans, but she decided it was best to check. It could possibly be either her son or her daughter. She fished for her phone from her purse, noticing the caller ID: Westin Hills.

"Crap, sorry," she apologized. "I need to take this."

She slid her phone to answer the call. She didn't expect anyone from Westin Hills to call her, but she'd figure it would be best to hear out the situation.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Layla. It's Lauren from Westin Hills."

The brunette almost wanted to smile, but she refrained when she took notice of her now coworker's somewhat stressed tone. This didn't sound good.

"I have bad news, Layla. The Hypnocil will be delayed in arriving here by two to four days. There was a miscommunication with the company which made us first think the stuff would get here within five days."

— — — — —

Doug and Faith arrived at CVS, surprised to see that there were fewer cars than expected in the parking lot, especially at this time of day. It was rush hour, yet this place felt empty.

"So, Springwood's rush hour is sending everyone home," muttered Faith thoughtfully.

"It might be because of the recent deaths," said Doug as he shut off the engine to his truck. "Paranoia that would send people home."

"That's true," she said as she and Doug opened the car doors to get out of the truck. "Besides, this is a strange town."

"That would be an understatement," said Doug as he locked the car then headed for the pharmacy entrance, his sister keeping close behind him.

The two siblings made it in the store. The only sound they heard was faint-sounding elevator pop music, which sounded somewhat annoying to them. Other than that, the silence that welcomed them was unsettling.

"We should check the aisles first," suggested Doug.

Faith nodded as her brother led the way and she followed close behind him. She didn't speak, but she kept saying in her head not to daydream. Three daydreams in a matter of hours when the day wasn't even over yet was enough to tell her that if she had another daydream, she wouldn't be surprised. Still, she didn't want to daydream for the fear that she would see that horrible man again.

Doug on the other hand already had it figured out. Daydreaming was a death trap, and he kept mentally telling himself that he shouldn't do it. Dreaming at all was risky for him and his sister.

It wasn't long before the siblings made it to where the pharmacy area of the convenient store was. They noticed several little signs and finding the pills they came here to get was a little hard to figure out where it must be.

"I'm guessing it'll be somewhere in the sleep aids area," said Faith quietly, leading the way, Doug following close behind her.

The two made it there, now wondering where to start concerning looking in the columns for the specific pills. However, because of their big height difference (Doug being a little over six feet and Faith standing at exactly five feet), they figured out a plan, nodding to each other before they went to looking. This was something they often liked to do when they went to any store together, mostly for Doug to reach anything that Faith was unable to reach.

Doug chuckled to himself at one memory at a grocery store in Columbus when he met up with Faith after he came back from getting orange juice to see her struggling to get some paper towels that were on the top shelf and far back from the front of the shelf. However, that wasn't what was funny to him. The funny part was watching Faith using other things to try to bring the paper towels close, such as a different package of paper towels to attempt to accomplish her goal. This obviously wasn't successful and being the helpful and caring big brother he was, instead of laughing at his sister's predicament, Doug was able to reach the pack then toss it in the cart. Faith was thankful, though she tried telling him she was trying to be helpful.

Doug snapped back into reality, still chuckling a little at the memory. He almost expected Faith to ask him what was so funny, but much to his surprise, she didn't. He guessed that she figured out why or that he found himself laughing quietly that she didn't hear him.

Neither sibling spoke for a while, as they were busy with their own quest, Doug looking at the top shelves and Faith looking at the bottom shelves. Doug was unsuccessful in finding anything that was close to what he was looking for. Faith on the other hand stopped at the third row up from the bottom row, where there was one row that read Sta Awake. However, she noticed that where the containers were supposed to be, it was completely empty.

"Shoot," she hissed. "I guess we'll have to ask the pharmacy counter."

She noticed a little tag under where the price of the item in question was. It read Temporarily Out of Stock.

"Oh man, that's just brilliant," she said.

"What's wrong?" Doug asked as he knelt beside her.

She pointed to the empty row then pointed to the Temporarily Out of Stock sign. She stood up then hung her head in frustration, feeling a huge chunk of hope slipping away from her fingertips. She knew that the people at the pharmacy counter were the last hope. If they didn't have anything, she was sure that she and Doug would struggle trying to stay up, possibly even with coffee alone.

"We'll have to ask the counter," said Doug, sounding somewhat pained from what he saw.

"I was just thinking that earlier," said Faith. "You beat me to saying it."

Doug gave a tiny smirk to his sister, forcing himself to hold back a chortle that was threatening to come out. He had nearly forgotten that in multiple cases, he and the raven-haired teen had similar thoughts, more often than either sibling realized. Oh, the magic of being a pair of siblings born five years apart with minds almost that of twins because of their closeness.

The twenty-year old stood up then led the way to the pharmacy counter, his mind was racing with thoughts about this dilemma. If there really wasn't any of these pills here, he knew it would be a struggle for him and his sister to pull an all-nighter.

The siblings walked to the counter to see a middle-aged man with kind eyes looking at them. He walked to the counter to face siblings.

"How may I help you?" he asked.

"We're wondering if you have any pills that allow you to stay awake," said Doug quickly. "We were looking in one of the aisles earlier and we couldn't find them."

The pharmacist's smile suddenly faltered as if he heard of some bad news. He could see the troubled expression on the faces of the young man and the girl beside him. He wanted to help them, partially because something told him that they seemed familiar, though he didn't know why.

"I don't know if we have any back here, but I'll check," he said before turning to head to the back, leaving the siblings to wait.

The siblings turned to each other, neither one looking hopeful.

"The dude seems nice, but I don't like where this is going," murmured Faith to Doug.

Her brother nodded, completely agreeing with her. He didn't like where this was going either, but he would only feel a sliver better once he got an answer from the pharmacist.

He wanted so badly to reassure her that everything was fine, but since he was in the same predicament as she was, he wasn't so sure. That was why he could only agree with her and remember how many days they had before they could have the Hypnocil.

"Just four days," he whispered. "Four days before this'll be all over."

He wasn't entirely surprised when he noticed that she only looked half convinced. He knew that she was hardly ever naive, and it would take him a while to convince her otherwise.

Faith on the other hand, was having racing thoughts. She was sure that at this rate, it wouldn't spill good news. She was thinking about maybe if they couldn't find anything here, then they would go somewhere else. However, because her mother had put her and Doug on a bit of a curfew, being out of the house longer than necessary was not a risk she was willing to take.

"Maybe," she said. "I was thinking if they really don't have the stuff here, we could look somewhere else, but- "

"Mom's curfew time for us," interrupted Doug. "We can't be out long."

She nodded then gave him a smirk, as if she knew something that he didn't.

"Just wait for the police curfew to come next," she added quickly. "I'm calling it."

He nodded in agreement, remembering that his mother had successfully gotten the police to at least beef up security in Springwood, especially Elm Street.

"Freddy might put a big price on our heads like Boba Fett from Star Wars does," said Doug, the uneasiness was evident in his voice.

"More like Cad Bane from The Clone Wars," countered Faith in a slight sarcastic tone.

"But Boba Fett is cooler, right?" he argued.

"He was until he went out like a pussy," she said. "Remember in Return of the Jedi?"

Doug took a moment to think about this before the slight bickering between him and his sister could've got heated. He tried to remember the last time he saw the movie in question which then he found wasn't too long ago. It was just about a few days before the move.

"Dammit!" he hissed as he facepalmed in shame. "You're right."

The younger woman didn't hold back her quiet giggles at her brother's expense. She just wanted something to laugh about after the shit she went through earlier and this was the perfect time for it.

Doug on the other hand shook his head, though chuckling a little, himself. It was one of those occasional times when his little sister tried to annoy him.

"I'll never hear the end of that," he muttered as she still quietly laughed at him for another few moments.

She turned to him after laughing, an innocent expression was shown on her face.

"Did I annoy you?" she asked innocently.

He was at a loss at first, seeing that she was likely dangerously close to laughing again. He thought for a long moment before coming up with an answer.

"You were close, but no," he answered honestly, but he chuckled at her hoping that she annoyed him.

"Dammit!" she hissed, though she could barely suppress a quiet laugh. "You're already making fun of me for that, aren't you?"

He nodded, chortling again.

"That's not going away anytime soon," muttered the fifteen-year old, shaking her head.

"Wasn't that what Captain America said when everyone made fun of his shouting language at Iron Man for cussing?" asked the twenty-year old, though he was failing at hiding his chortles.

She burst into laughter, remembering that said scene. It was one scene that she and her brother would joke about on occasion.

"Of course!" she replied, slowly trying to calm down from laughing.

"If only we could Captain America and Iron Man Freddy's ass," said Doug, his tone somewhat pained.

"I wish it were that easy," said Faith, her tone not sounding much better than her brother's, though he found it strange to hear such an abrupt change to her tone.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the pharmacist was coming back to the counter with a less than hopeful expression on his face. To the girl, this didn't sound like this would be good.

"He's coming back," she stated quietly. "But, judging by the look on his face, I doubt it's good news."

Doug turned to see the pharmacist that Faith was talking about, noticing the expression on his face. He looked down to see that the pharmacist was coming empty-handed.

"You're right," he agreed. "And he's got nothing. I think we're somewhat screwed."

The pharmacist made his way to the counter, eyes directed at the young man and the girl. After his own little mission, he had to tell them what he found out.

"We unfortunately don't have any back here," he said. "I'll ask my son to check to see if we probably have some in the back there." He pointed to the door further down the hall. "I know there's a sign that says temporarily out of stock, but I wonder if a shipment came."

He pulled out a phone from his pocket, leaving Doug and Faith somewhat surprised. They wondered what would happen next.

"Donald?" said the pharmacist to his phone. "Can you come to the pharmacy counter for a second? Two customers need to ask you something."

An uneasy silence followed, making the siblings shift their positions a bit uncomfortably. Neither were hopeful after hearing what the pharmacist told them, but neither one spoke, deciding it was best for them to wait until he finished talking on the phone.

"Thank you," said the pharmacist at last, before he hung up, then turned to the siblings.

"He should be here shortly," he said.

The three waited for the employee in question. No one spoke during the waiting period. They waited until a young man walked up to the siblings, though he seemed familiar to them.

"Can you check for the Sta Awake pulls in the back?" asked the pharmacist. "I thought a new shipment came this afternoon."

"Will get to it, Dad," replied the younger man.

He turned to the siblings and was about to gesture to them to follow him to an aisle close to the door not far from the pharmacy when his eyes widened at the young man and girl in question.

"Doug, Faith?" he smiled, lightly patting the former on the shoulder.

"Hey Donald!" smiled Doug.

"Hi Donald," said Faith. "I didn't know you worked here."

Donald chuckled. "Oh yeah, I do," he said as he gestured the siblings to follow him to an aisle closest to the door. "It's nice here. Though next year, I'll be leaving here because I'm hoping to go to a university. How have you two been?"

"Could be better," replied Doug. "Though those daydreams lately. She had one earlier before we left." He turned to gesture to his sister, then turned back to Donald.

Donald turned to the girl, giving her a sympathetic smile. He remembered that out of his own group of friends, he was the first one to rush to her when he saw her on the ground, hurt while her brother was trying to aid her.

"I'll check to see if we have some in the back," he said as he turned for the door.

The siblings turned to each other, now a little more hopeful than they were before.

"This is where the waiting game begins," said Faith in a slightly comical tone.

Her brother gave her a smirk, then he looked away from her, staring at the wall. He was silent for several seconds, wondering what else he could say to Faith next.

Before he could turn back to her, Doug heard the door creak open. He figured maybe Donald had come back to tell him about what happened. Unfortunately, he found himself to be dead wrong when he heard the same menacing laughter that he heard all before.

CLICK! CLICK! SCREEE!

The sound startled Doug and he knew there was only one person behind these sounds. He kept silent though, refusing to attract the intruder's attention. He just slowly backed away just when he saw the bladed glove and a bit of the red and black sweater.

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! SCREEEEEEEE!

The bladed glove tapped the door, scratching it loud enough to keep Doug's attention, the sound was unsettling to him. The door opened fully to reveal the stalker. Doug felt his blood run cold, now realizing that he had to run away from him.

"Hello again, Douglas," purred Freddy Krueger. "Miss me?"

The young man in question didn't answer, refusing to tell him anything. Instead, he turned to the next aisle, then ran past it, surprised that no one noticed him. Not even Faith noticed him. Unknown to him, Freddy was chasing him down, but running like a silly clown and laughing at him.

Doug ran out of the store, determined to get away from the burnt maniac. He refused to make another sound, apart from his footsteps. He found a place by the bushes to hide, at least until he was able to find something appropriate to defend himself with, or at least distract Krueger until Doug, himself, would find a way to kick Krueger down.

Was the twenty-year old afraid? He was certain that he was, but he refused to show it. He tried to muffle his breaths so that he wouldn't attract Krueger's attention. He wanted to wait for the right time to either run away again or find something to hit Krueger with.

"Oh, hide and seek?" chortled Freddy as he looked around for his soon-to-be victim. "That's a fun game. Where are you, Doug?"

As quietly as he could, Doug picked up a decent-sized rock that he found lying on the ground barely a few inches away from him. He smirked to himself as he readied himself for the time to hit his stalker.

With one swift motion, Doug threw the rock to Krueger, aiming the dream stalker in the groin. Krueger doubled over and let out a cry of surprise. Doug couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself.

Krueger though finally steadied himself, the shock on his face replaced with gleaming anger. "Who the hell threw that?" he snapped.

Before he realized it, Freddy turned to see Doug charging for him and there was no time for him to run. Doug tackled the dream demon down then began furiously punching him. If he was scratched by the dream demon during the scuffle, he didn't pay any attention at all.

"That's what you get for getting to my sister!" he fumed.

Before he could land another punch to the ugly man, Doug's phone began to ring long and loud, causing him to snap his head back into reality. He felt his phone vibrate as well. He realized that he was still inside the store next to Faith.

 _It really was just a daydream_ , he thought, shuddering.

"Dude, you're bleeding!" gasped Faith, pointing to Doug's arm.

Doug noticed the worried expression on his sister's face, and he noticed that she was pointing to his arm. He angled it to see a decent amount of blood oozing out of his wound.

"Oh shit," he muttered.

Remembering that his phone was ringing, he pulled it out of his pocket to check what was up.

 _ **Emergency Alert**_

 _Because of the recent unsolved murders in Springwood, Ohio, student curfew time is in a time table of 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. No later. Stay alert for any possible changes to the times, should any occur._

"That's actually a decent curfew time," said Doug.

"Indeed," replied Faith, who had taken out her phone to check that she got the same alert as her brother, which she unsurprisingly did.

At the same time, the door slowly creaked open, startling Doug a bit. A horrible feeling that he was daydreaming again sunk into his core, but his fears were lessened when it was just Donald making his way to the siblings.

Donald though noticed a slight panic in Doug.

"You alright, man?" he asked. "You seem a little spooked."

Doug let out a weak chuckle, now slightly embarrassed from his freak out earlier. Freaking out that easily over the door opening wasn't on his plan, not that he could completely control it. It was another Freddy dream.

"Daydream," he said quietly that only Donald and Faith could hear.

Donald nodded then his expression turned serious, causing the siblings to slightly worry.

"We don't have any of that stuff in the back," he said solemnly. "I talked to one of my co-workers Charlene and she told me that shipment was supposed to come today, but she was told that it's being delayed by a day because of traffic."

Silence followed as the siblings tried to process everything they heard. They wanted to go elsewhere to find the pills successfully, but they knew that being out for longer than necessary could lead to a worried phone call from their mother or even their father. They refused to worry their parents that much.

"We'll handle the wait," said Doug at last.

Faith nodded, silently agreeing with him. At the same time, a ringtone interrupted them. Doug once again jumped in surprise before he fumbled his hand through his pocket to find out that it was his phone ringing. He could see that it was his mother and he immediately answered without a second thought.

"Mom?" he began.

"Hi, son," she said. "I'm calling you because I have some bad news."

His heart sank and it felt like a huge amount of weight was pulling him down. This couldn't be good at all. With the other things that happened in just one day, he felt like he couldn't even catch a break.

"The Hypnocil will be delayed by two to four days," continued Layla. "They're even saying five days at the most."

For several seconds, Doug couldn't speak. Did he just hear this correctly? Was it just a mistake? He shuddered at the thought of having to wait that much longer.

"You still there?" asked Layla.

"Yes," replied Doug. "I'm just finding it hard to process."

"I understand," replied Layla. "Did you find those other pills by any chance?"

"They're out and won't be coming in until tomorrow," replied Doug.

Silence fell between him and his mother, and he could've sworn that he heard her curse quietly before she spoke.

"Alright," she said. "If you can, maybe you can get it tomorrow. If not, I can swing by the place on my way home tomorrow."

"Oh thanks," sighed Doug in relief.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"I had another daydream predicament with Freddy. He was chasing me down the place, but I got out then later tackled him. And before you ask, other than that, everything's good. Faith is good, doing a good job at looking out for me as I am for her. And we're still at CVS."

"Geez, that's scary," shuddered Layla. "And it's a good thing that you're still at CVS because I was so focused on getting home to check up on you and your sister before you left, that I forgot to swing by to get coffee mix. You want to get that?"

Doug smiled, thankful that he and Faith didn't arrive here for nothing. "Sure, we will take care of that, Mom. It shouldn't be too long."

The two said their goodbyes for Doug hung up, turning to Faith. He knew he had to let her know this.

"Faith?"

She turned to him, curious.

"Mom forgot coffee mix so she's asking us to get that," notified Doug.

"That shouldn't take too long," replied Faith.

Doug nodded in agreement then took notice that his sister seemed to be looking down at something.

"You want to get that bandaged up?" she asked. "It looks bad."

Doug took one good look at the wound on his arm, courtesy of Freddy Krueger. The wound itself looked to be no more than a bad scratch that had more depth than the twenty-year old thought as he watched blood ooze out of it. His eyes widened with shock, realizing that his sister was right with how bad it was. However, he knew he had more than enough supplies in his truck to get it fixed. Maybe he could hold off on fixing it until after leaving CVS.

"I'll get that fixed later," he said. "We shouldn't be long before we're finished. We just need to get one more thing."

He looked up to see that neither Faith nor Donald looked convinced.

"Dude, I think your sister is right," said Donald, his voice turning serious. "That looks pretty bad. That almost looks like those cuts she got earlier. Let me help you."

He turned for the door behind him then walked in, leaving the siblings there to wait. Doug sighed, now realizing that Donald was insistent. It very much reminded him of how insistent Faith could be at times, though not as blunt as Faith usually was. That was the major difference between him and Faith when it came to how they showed they cared for each other. Doug was Faith's protector and she was brutally honest.

The siblings just stayed silent as they waited for Donald to come back again.

— — — — —

Chloe and Jake had been in CVS for almost twenty-five minutes, getting the stuff that they figured was easiest to get from here. Chloe was carrying a basket that she got from the front of the store earlier, refusing to let her and Jake carry everything with their hands alone.

"So Sta Awake pills and coffee," said Chloe, looking at her list she had on her phone.

"You forgot the damn plates," pointed out Jake.

Chloe took one good look at the remaining things she had on her list. She realized that Jake was right, facepalming.

"We'll get those pills first," she said.

Her brother nodded as she went to lead the way. She was looking at her phone to help her remember the last few things they needed without needing to pull out her phone again, that she barely paid attention to where she was going.

"Yo, Chloe, you're about to-" began Jake.

Too late. Chloe had accidentally bumped into someone. She felt blood rush to her cheeks in embarrassment.

"Shit, sorry about that," she hissed.

She looked up from her phone to see that she had bumped into a familiar girl with raven black hair, and the familiar young man with brown hair was standing next to her. She couldn't hold back a smile.

"Hey Doug and Faith," she said. "Whatcha waiting for?"

Jake saw the familiar sibling duo then smiled at them. He turned his direction closer to Faith, deciding that maybe he should apologize for being rude to her.

"I had another daydream of Freddy, resulting in a brawl with him and somehow got hurt during that," answered Doug. "Donald's in the back to get stuff bandage it." He showed his wound to Chloe and Jake.

Chloe and Jake cringed at the sight of it.

"That looks painful," murmured Jake.

He paused.

"We're here to get whatever those stay awake pills or something," he finished.

"They're completely out," replied Doug. "Faith and I checked the shelves, asked the pharmacy counter, and even asked Donald if there were any in the back. None back there."

"Shit," hissed Chloe and Jake in unison.

"He said there was supposed to be another shipment, but it got delayed by a day because of traffic," added Faith. "It's coming tomorrow."

Chloe and Jake groaned, shaking their heads. Now, they were sure that they were screwed, but were somewhat surprised that by the sound of it, Doug and Faith were here for the same thing.

Jake turned to the raven-haired teen. Now he felt this would be a chance to apologize to her. He had to.

"Can I pull you aside for a bit, Faith?"

The girl nodded as she followed him down the aisle a bit. After everything that his girlfriend and his older sister told him, Jake couldn't keep holding a grudge against this girl.

"I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for being rude to you," said the seventeen-year old. "I was kind of grumpy from shit sleep. I didn't want to see that guy."

The fifteen-year old gave a careful nod, shifting her position a bit as questions rang in her head. She wasn't usually a curious type, but she knew she had to get answers.

"How did you and the others know about Krueger?" she asked.

The boy could see the dead serious curiosity in her eyes. He usually wasn't one to easily read expressions, but he saw that she had a different form of curiosity. She wasn't just asking just because it interested her. He figured that she was trying to do this to save lives.

"Two of my friends Charlene and Kristen told me about him," he replied. "Remember hearing about Weston's death?"

Faith nodded.

"Charlene and Kristen know him," Jake continued. "Or, mostly Charlene. If I'm not mistaken, Charlene is the first one Weston told about Freddy. Later, they told me about him. I thought it was some crazy ass superstition. Oh boy, I was wrong. I told Mandy, Mark, Chloe, and Donald who pretty much thought the same thing I did at first. Then, the nightmares came. The news spread like wildfire."

"Gosh," gasped Faith. "I thought this town couldn't get any stranger than that."

"If I could, I would vote this town for having the weirdest history and folk tales," chuckled Jake.

The two laughed before they headed back with their respective siblings, Jake with Chloe and Faith with Doug.

"I guess we'll see you two tomorrow," said Chloe.

The two sibling duos said their goodbyes before Chloe and Jake headed off. At the same time, the door opened to reveal Donald holding a clear container in his hand.

"This shouldn't be too long," smiled Donald as he set the container on an empty shelf then examined Doug's wound.

He peered through the blood to see the nasty looking cut. He knew this kind of wound needed attention immediately, at least without anyone at a hospital getting involved. He remembered learning this stuff from his father and wanted to apply it well to help his friend.

"Damn, how did you get that?" he asked.

Doug almost couldn't bring himself to mention his attacker from his daydream earlier. The name to him was a curse to mention, but he knew he had to tell the truth to Donald.

"Krueger," he answered. "From my daydream."

"Yikes," cringed Donald as he went to clean Doug's wound. "You okay, man?"

"I'm fine," replied Doug.

Donald smiled as he began to put an ointment on Doug's wound. Doug watched, surprised to see how precise Donald was.

"Damn, you're really good at this," commented Faith, who was watching, seeing him do just as well of a job as her brother usually did.

"Thanks," chuckled Donald. "My dad really taught me about this shortly after I turned twelve."

It wasn't long before Donald finished fixing Doug's wound with a final patch up. He smiled at the two siblings.

"Now you're all good to go, dude," he said, turning to Doug.

Doug chuckled as he watched the other young man pat him lightly on the shoulder. Doug was already finding Donald to be the friendliest of the bunch from earlier. He didn't think it was this easy to make a friend like this. He was usually a little quieter when he wasn't with anyone he knew. This was different.

"Thanks, man," he smiled. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"No worries," reassured Donald.

 **...**

 **Hey guys! Writing this chapter has been fun and difficult. Fun because more dream sequences! It was difficult because someone did let me know about that the shakiest part in this story is especially trying to describe and possibly potentially build up the dream sequences. I hope this one will at least be some improvement. Constructive criticism is fine, but don't be mean, please? This is my first Nightmare on Elm Street fanfic after all.**

 **Also, for some odd reason, I kept confusing Westin Hills for Westin Mills. I fixed this this chapter and I hope that'll stick, assuming that I won't confuse the two again.**

 **Anyway, thanks for bearing with me and all. I already have events planned in this story later. Things should get interesting soon and I hope you guys like it. Thanks! :)**


	17. Show and Tell

Donald smiled at his two new acquaintances he met at the bookstore this morning, feeling pleased that he could help them in any way that he could, even when he couldn't find what they were looking for. Plus, after meeting them, he seemed to see them as a nice pair of siblings, more tolerable than Chloe and Jake. He didn't hate Chloe and Jake, he just found them a little too much at times with their over-the-top closeness to their current partners.

"Take care, man," said Doug before he and Faith turned away, leaving Donald alone.

Donald went to check his watch. It read 5:58, being less than twenty minutes until his shift ended. He felt relieved and a little sad about it. He was relieved because it meant he would be with his family, even though his father was here as well. It was just that they didn't get to communicate much while at work. He was sad about his shift ending because lately, work had been a perfect distraction from his recent nightmares and when he would return home, it felt like the nightmares tugged on his mind and pulling him in.

He turned to one of his coworkers who happened to be conveniently standing beside him, a tall girl with straight blonde hair and brown eyes. Seeing her almost startled Donald, but he kept himself composed.

"Hey," he said. "How's everything, Charlene?"

"It's all good," she replied. "You?"

"It's been a little crazy," answered Donald honestly. "I had to help some people with finding something which failed. Then one of the two people I was helping earlier ended up with a nasty cut. He was daydreaming."

"As in Freddy Krueger daydreaming?" asked Charlene.

Donald nodded; a wave of uneasiness hit him in the chest. Though he was not a daydreamer, he couldn't imagine suddenly having daydreams with the man plotting to kill the dreamer. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Doug and Faith who both experienced daydreams. Though he didn't bother to mention the number of bandages they had, he already had a feeling that they went through hell and back.

"Damn," muttered Charlene, shaking her head. "Imagine being a daydreamer or something, and then staying up to either end up with either a daydream or a micro nap."

The twenty-year old sighed then shook his head, his mind still on Doug and Faith. The thought of them possibly ending up with the said situations made him shudder. Watching his friends suffer was the last thing he wanted to have on his mind.

"That's something I'd like to not think about," he said. "It sounds like a pretty scary dilemma."

"Never mind then," said Charlene as she turned away to continue with her job.

Donald decided to head back to the cash register, hoping that these last minutes of his shift would keep his mind off Freddy Krueger. He needed the extra distraction before he headed home.

— — — — —

Chloe and Jake arrived home after finishing up their own little trip to CVS. They called it a success, and they were happy with it. The only thing that failed was finding the Sta Awake pills because they were told about there being no pills. However, they were lucky to get a few things.

Jake and Chloe were in the living room of their home, watching Twilight, more so to make fun of it. They figured it would be a way to keep their minds off Freddy for a while. Neither sibling wanted to sleep, but Jake was yawning roughly every ten minutes because he barely got decent sleep all because of those damn dreams.

"Fuck, I'm tired," he yawned, leaning against his seat. "Dunno if I want to take a nap or not."

Chloe paused the movie then turned to her little brother. She didn't like the idea of him napping, considering that she knew that he would dream. Dreaming would then mean death.

"I don't think you should," she said gravely. "Jake, you'd dream and then die. I can't let your ass die on me."

"I know, but I'm really tired," he said. "I promise it'll be a nap. At the most, an hour."

She sighed, wondering if she should still pressure him against going to sleep or if maybe she should let him on one condition. She cared for him despite the times they often teased each other, but Jake could be pushy at times and wanted to prove to her that he was able to take care of himself.

"You want to at least nap here, and I can watch you?" she asked. "If you're struggling to wake up, I can try to wake you up."

The seventeen-year old scoffed at the question. Sure, he did care for his sister, but there were times when she was asking too much. Despite his nightmares, he felt it was easier to take Chloe's words as that she was a little too paranoid about things.

"I'll be fine," he said. "I'll head to my room. And before you ask, don't come in with me. I just need to chill after everything."

The twenty-one-year old sighed again, knowing that he was getting rather annoyed with her trying to "mom" him. With her being the oldest in her group of friends along with her brother, she felt it was necessary to at least make sure they were okay. Hell, she even sent texts to them that she and Jake were home just after she parked her car in the driveway.

"Fine," she said. "However, when you wake up and I see you with scratches or something, don't say I didn't warn you. You're too stubborn."

Jake chortled at the comment. Being too stubborn was something he didn't disagree with. He had a bit of a reputation for that, though it was usually less evident when he was with Mandy.

"Alright, I'll be up in about fifteen minutes or thirty at the most," he said as he stood up from his seat.

"Okay," said Chloe. "But if I hear you screaming or something, don't be mad at me for coming into your room. I just don't want you to die on me."

He nodded, understanding what she was telling him. Sure, it felt like she would mom him at times, but she felt it was necessary. She wanted to be a teacher and she was already getting started with putting what she learned to work.

"Be careful," she warned, though in a soft enough voice.

"I will," smiled Jake before he left the living room.

Chloe was alone now, but it didn't bother her. She just hoped that Jake would heed her warning, even though he was stubborn at times.

She hit the play button on the remote to continue the movie. However, just for good measure, she turned down the volume so that she could hear Jake if he ended up screaming in his sleep.

She turned to her half-empty mug of coffee she made for herself earlier on the coffee table then held the mug, feeling the smooth, porcelain texture against her fingertips. She pressed the mug to her lips then took a sip; her thoughts though were still on Jake.

After she placed the mug down on the table, she turned her focus to the movie, but her thoughts on Jake was still distracting her.

 _Gosh, I hope Jake doesn't get himself killed_ , she thought anxiously.

— — — — —

Jake was in his room again, feeling incredibly tired, but he told Chloe that things would be fine. It was a struggle for him to haul his ass to his room earlier, and when he was about halfway to his room, he almost considered turning back to the couch. However, he had made a valiant effort to head for his room before he could fall on the floor in the middle of the hall, possibly having Chloe laugh at him before she had to demand for him to wake up.

The seconds felt like minutes before Jake eventually made it to his room. He shut the door for privacy but decided not to lock it just in case his older sister was going to come in to check on him or something.

The blonde teen climbed to his bed then laid down on his side, closing his eyes and wishing for a good dream. That could calm Chloe down from being over her head.

Suddenly, a drop of liquid substance fell onto Jake's cheek. The seventeen-year old almost gasped in surprise, though noticed that the substance felt wet. He wiped it with his hand then checked his hand, just to make sure it was just water and not blood. It was only water, much to his relief. However, he didn't know where it came from.

Almost seconds later, another drop of water hit him in his cheek. This was followed by another, and another, and another. Soon after, several drips came down, though too many for the teen to count.

Deciding to see where the dripping was coming from, he looked up to see a large chunk of the ceiling appeared to be wet. There was a small but noticeable crack on the wall and sure enough, there were drops of water coming down on Jake.

"Fuck," he groaned, sitting up on his bed. "Air conditioning fucking up again? The worst time for this shit to happen. And it's supposed to be hot as hell tomorrow."

He pondered about how to fix the issue before it got any worse. It took him a moment before he finally decided on a solution.

 _A towel and duct tape_ , he thought as he got out of bed.

He could still hear the drops of water now dropping on his bed, but he knew he had to fix it fast. If he didn't, he couldn't imagine how bad things would get.

He walked to the door then opened it, hoping that maybe this task wouldn't be too bad. Unfortunately, as his bare feet touched the hardwood floor of the hallway, he felt something wet underneath his feet. He looked down to see that there was a small but noticeable flood in the hallway and by the looks of it, it seemed to run further down the hall and into the living room.

Seeing this made the teen baffled and he almost wanted to check it out but told himself not to do so. Something in the back of his mind told him that if he went to check what it was, things wouldn't end well.

He was about to turn the opposite direction to look for the two things he needed from the linen closet when he heard a sound, almost all too familiar to him.

 _SCREEEE!_

"What the hell?" hissed Jake, turning back to see where the sound came from.

Much to his surprise, no one was there. Though he was a bit suspicious, he shook his head then returned to what he was doing. He wanted to believe it was just the wall leaking like what happened in his room, but that didn't explain how the whole hall was already flooded. Plus, there was no rain at all, let alone enough rain to set off a flash flood, which then made him a bit more suspicious.

Nevertheless, the seventeen-year old walked slowly toward the closet down the hall, closer to Chloe's room. With every step he took, he surprised himself creating splashes which he found to be unintentional.

After he stopped in front of the closet door, he opened it, hoping to just find what he needed to stop the leak in the ceiling of his room. Much to his surprise, he found a red and green striped towel in the second to top shelf, about at his eye level. This was unfamiliar to him, as neither he nor his family owned such a thing.

He shook his head then deciding to find a towel that wasn't staring suspiciously at him. He was about to grab hold of a sea green one when an unknown force pulled his hand away. This startled him to say the least, but that was only the beginning for weird things to happen.

"Ooooooooh, Jacob," said a familiar dark and mocking tone.

"The fuck?" muttered Jake, scanning his eyes around his surroundings to find where the voice came from, even though he knew who it was.

"Turn in front of you!" hissed the voice of Freddy Krueger.

The blonde teen looked directly at the suspicious-looking towel, curiosity and fear setting in. He didn't know what to expect.

"Hi Jake." The towel's creased folds opened and closed as the words came out, very much as if it were speaking.

Jake barely paid attention to it at first glance, thinking it was some stupid hallucination he was having. He was sure it wasn't unusual to hallucinate Freddy's voice. However, he realized that he was about to be wrong in all levels.

"How's this for a wet dream?"

To towel's creases moved again and the voice of Freddy Krueger was coming out of it. Jake's mouth hung open in horror before a yelp escaped from his throat. This couldn't be real, was it?

"What the fuck is this?" he yelled. "Talking towels? That's for the fucking Muppets and Sesame Street!"

He yanked the towel out of the closet then threw it down the hall, hoping to get it far from his sight as he could. Unfortunately, the furthest it went was about halfway down the hall. Frustrated, he ran to the towel, only to slip because the floor was slippery from the flood then ended up falling and landing on his butt, much to his embarrassment.

"Shit, my poor ass," he grumbled.

"Caution watch your step, Jacob!" cackled the voice of Krueger.

Jake did notice that this time, the voice didn't come from the towel he threw down the hall. However, he was now determined to find where Krueger was.

He slowly got back up on his feet, now determined to be careful so that he wouldn't slip and fall again on the wet, flooded floor. After that, he slowly made his way down the hall, more careful than before.

Unfortunately, before he could turn the corner, he felt himself be pushed back down the hall, but no one was actually pushing him. He felt a sense of panic rising in his heart as it hammered hard and beat fast.

Before he realized it, he felt his back hit the doorframe of his room. He let out a groan of pain, now debating in his head on whether he should stay put or get back on his feet to continue looking for Krueger, wherever he was. He took a deep breath before making up his mind.

"Alright Jake," he told himself. "Don't be a pussy. Get your ass back up. Krueger is still around and you gotta be strong."

The seventeen-year old slowly got back on his feet, now readying himself to take on Krueger. He wasn't going to back out now. No matter how scared he was, he had to put every ounce of mental strength he had in him if he wanted to at least not get killed.

"Where the hell are you, Krueger?" he called.

Much to his surprise, he was once again shoved against the door of his room by an unknown force. His head hit the door first before the rest of his back did. His head began to ache, and he was almost positive that he might have gotten a mild concussion. However, he refused to give up now.

This time, he refused to make a sound, getting as far as making his breaths as quiet as possible. If he made a sound, he was sure he would be killed.

 _SCREEEE!_

The sound of metal scratching the wall didn't startle Jake, but it did keep him more alert. He was desperate at this point to find where Krueger was so that he could confront him.

He had just got back on his feet when once again, an unknown force decided to tamper with him. He felt himself be lifted off the ground, then levitated close to the ceiling, then stayed up for several seconds.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, absolute panic and shock in his voice.

The teen later felt himself falling, and at this point, he was sure he would land on the floor and could very likely end up with a concussion. However, instead, he landed on something soft, much better than he originally feared. It didn't take him long to realize that he was back on his bed.

 _KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

 _TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!_

Jake found himself to be in the state of sheer panic. His breathing accelerated as he scanned his eyes around his room, wondering where the sound was coming from. He was sure the culprit of the sound was Krueger, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

 _Oh fuck! What the hell is going on?_ thought Jake nervously.

He began to feel like his heart was pounding out of his chest and he broke in a cold sweat. The fear continued to build up inside of him, and he wasn't sure what would happen now.

At this point, he knew he was dreaming, but it felt more vivid than the last one he had. He wanted to wake up, but he was trapped in his own nightmare. The only option he had at this point was to scream, but he knew that would be attracting Krueger's attention.

"This is not good at all," shivered Jake. "I'm screwed."

All he could do at this point was to wait what could happen now. Surprisingly, he didn't have to wait long, as he turned to the front door of his room to see the tall figure of a familiar burnt man in his same attire of a red and green sweater, brown hat, and the hard-to-miss finger knives.

Freddy Krueger slowly shut the door then locked it, guaranteeing no escapes for the boy. Freddy's eyes shifted to his soon-to-be victim, flashing a crooked smile on his face. In Jake's eyes, he saw the smile of Krueger's to be the most horrific smile he had ever seen in his entire life. The smile was enough to make the teen sick to his stomach, but he swallowed hard to not vomit in front of his stalker.

Krueger slowly sauntered forward to the teen; the smile didn't change. He was like a snake slithering and stalking its prey. This was only the start of Krueger's own pleasurable game, though Jake didn't know that.

"Hello Jacob," purred Krueger. "I was just doing a little show and tell."

He gave the seventeen-year old a slow wave with his bladed-gloved hand to taunt him. Seeing the terrified look on the younger's face made Freddy let out a deep chuckle.

Jake trembled at the sight, barely keeping himself composed to speak coherently. The fear was incredibly strong inside of him, threatening to pull him deeper in its current.

"Oh god," he muttered.

The older man didn't hold back a chortle as he took a seat next to the boy, who tried to scoot back without falling from his bed. The two stared at each other for a long moment before another word was spoken.

"You're wrong, Jake," jeered Freddy.

He used one finger knife to point to himself, as if he wanted to show Jake something. The finger knife was in the same position for a long while, barely moving at all.

"I am God." The dream demon's voice was grim, almost a mean-like tone.

He lowered his hand to point to the terrified boy. Delightfully licking his lips, he knew he was going to have some fun again, even if it meant leaving blood on his hands.

Jake shook his head in disbelief, once again scooting back further from the man, nearly falling off his bed in the process, but he managed to keep himself steady from falling off. The last thing he wanted to embarrass himself any further than how he already had. However, he put on a brave face to show that he wasn't ready to give in to Krueger that easily.

"Son of a bitch!" he shouted as bravely as he could. "You're not real!"

Freddy laughed again, amused by the teen's words. Or maybe it was Jake's tone that amused the dream demon even more. He tried to sound brave, but it was obvious that the fear in his voice was evident.

"We'll see about that, Jake," said the burnt man. "It's now my turn to do a little show and tell."

Jake was about to speak when he noticed the blades were quickly digging into his t-shirt. What followed was an unexpected wave of sharp pain on his chest, soon after a wet sensation on his chest. He groaned from the pain then looked down, his eyes widened in horror at the sight he saw.

There were three torn marks on his t-shirt and three cuts on his skin, already pooling out blood. He was frantic and he tried to cover his wounds that was already beginning to soak his t-shirt with blood.

Unfortunately for him, he had no time to fight back. Freddy was faster as he dragged the boy around the darkened room like a rag doll. Jake found himself screaming yet was struggling to wake up. If he did wake up in time, he was sure that this would end with a trip to the hospital with his worried parents and older sister.

"Fuck!" he cried as he was continuously being dragged and tossed around his room by the dream demon.

— — — — —

Things were relatively quiet for Chloe, at least that was what she thought. However, she did hear someone shouting "fuck" which was loud enough to almost startle her. Thinking quickly, she paused the movie to pay close attention, wondering if she was just hearing things or if someone was really crying out for help.

The next thing she heard was more screaming, the screaming becoming awfully familiar. A sinking feeling began to set in her stomach, her face suddenly went pale, and her heart pounded hard. She realized that this meant that her brother was in trouble and she had to run to his room to wake him up.

"Shit!" yelled the twenty-one-year old as she got out of her seat. "Jake! I'm coming!"

Without a second thought, she ran to Jake's room, hoping that she could open the door then wake him up. However, the process of actually getting in the room was easier said than done. The blonde young woman tried turning the knob, but to no avail.

"God dammit!" she grumbled.

She knew that Jake didn't lock his door, considering that he promised her he wouldn't do that. She was scared and worried, but she couldn't waste any time. She quickly went to the linen closet to look for anything that was small enough to get the doorknob to budge. Much to her surprise, she found a small lightsaber toy that belonged to one of Mark's old action figures when she would play with the figures during her stay-at-home dates with Mark. She could have laughed at the thought, but she knew she couldn't. Her mind was on one thing and one thing only. That was to open the damn door then wake up Jake.

— — — — —

In the dream world, Jake was finding it harder and harder to breathe, though he knew he had to find any form of strength to fight back before it was too late. He was still being tossed around and dragged by the burnt man.

"It's a little message to Chloe!" laughed Freddy as he began to slowly drag Jake up the wall, making a blood trail on the wall.

"Fuck you!" screamed Jake. "If you mess with my older sister, I'm fucking you up in hell!"

Freddy had no response, but he laughed as he continued his bloody work. He was almost finished and now, the last step was to make the final slash for the kill. He was sure this would be easy, as he had done it before.

"Oh god!" cried Jake.

Freddy slowly dragged Jake up the wall and up to the ceiling, the trail of blood wasn't as prominent, but it was still noticeable, even if one were to be standing by the door. He wondered a bit on how he would officially end this.

Jake was still screaming as he tried to get away from Freddy's grip, but Freddy was too strong and too fast.

The dream demon laughed again, watching his victim suffer was entertaining. Ever since his first victim in his recent spree, he was enjoying his fun even more. If this was how he would have to catch his top two targets' attention, then he would gladly take this opportunity.

After five more seconds of watching the boy scream for help, Freddy eventually decided it was time for him to permanently shut up. With one swift motion, he gave one final slashed dig, once more pouring out blood from his skin before dropping him on his bed.

This time, Jake grew silent. No sound came from his mouth at all, let alone a word. What he saw was complete whiteness and his hearing was becoming more and more muffled until he heard no more.

Satisfied with his work, Freddy let out one final chortle before deciding it was time for him to find a new victim who could end up dreaming. He hoped it would be that raven-haired girl and/or her brother, but he was beginning to doubt that very much. He wanted to at least catch their attention so that between the two, he would kill the girl first, especially as his own revenge for not being able to get to Layla as easily as he used to when she was teenager.

"Damn kids," he muttered.

— — — — —

The door to Jake's room opened, revealing herself as Chloe. She was more than ready to try to wake up Jake. However, just before she successfully opened the door with the help of the lightsaber toy, she had taken notice that Jake had gone silent. This confused her and worried her.

Did Freddy suddenly decide to leave Jake alone? Did Freddy end up killing Jake? Did Jake somehow scare off Freddy that now, he was peacefully sleeping? Chloe refused to let herself be that naive, but she kept her suspicions high.

When she walked into the room, she noticed some blood marks on the wall. She raised her eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected decoration.

"What the hell?" she muttered.

Immediately after, her thoughts shifted to Jake and if he was okay. She quickly rushed to his side, almost violently shaking him awake.

"Jake!" she said. "Wake up! Jake! Wake up, Jake! Jake! Jake!"

This went to no avail. The twenty-one-year old took her hands away from Jake's supposed sleeping body when she saw her palms were covered in blood. She knew this had to be Jake's blood, and the thought made her own blood run cold and her heart hammered in her chest from panic.

Quickly thinking, she grabbed his hand to check his pulse. Much to her shock and horror, nothing. Frustrated, she let go of his hand then leaned her ear to his mouth, wondering if he was breathing. Once again, she heard nothing.

A huge tidal wave of frustration, horror, and grief washed over Chloe and punched her in the face. This couldn't be true. Jake couldn't be dead; she couldn't be too late. The problem was that she was too late, and he was dead. She knew who was responsible for killing him, and if she ever made contact with that monster, she would give him a furious talk.

"God damn it! Jake!" cried Chloe, a sob threatening to build up in her throat.

She quickly wiped her brother's blood on the sheets then quickly pulled out her phone. She wasn't about to waste any time here. She was going to call her mother, her father, her friends, the cops, and an ambulance for that matter. However, she knew she had to remain as calm as she could, even through her horrorstruck and grief-stricken state.

"Jake!" she screamed before dialing the appropriate emergency services to get to her house as soon as possible.


	18. Only A Sliver of Hope

Layla and Damien were walking to Maggie Burroughs's house after Maggie had acknowledged Layla's arrival. Layla knew there were things about Freddy that she didn't know and wanted some insight from his daughter about her experiences.

The summer air was warmer than what the couple originally anticipated, but that didn't slow them down. They just wanted a head start to help their kids be able to uncover any mysteries about Freddy Krueger.

"Gosh, I hope the kids are alright," said Layla, her mind on what she heard from Doug on the phone earlier. "They've been through a lot in these past several hours."

Damien nodded in agreement. He too was equally worried, maybe more worried than Layla about his and Layla's kids. Seeing the bandages on them this morning had him more paranoid than before, though he did care deeply for them.

"I don't disagree with you," he replied nervously. "Besides, none of us thought this was actually happening."

"He's angry that he can't get to me as much as he used to when I was a teenager," explained Layla. "That's why he's attacking Doug and Faith. And just from I've seen, this guy has more glinting interest in Faith than Doug, and that scares me."

Damien's mind raced when he heard this. It scared him to learn that his son and daughter were now in more danger than he thought. The paranoia was brutal, sinking deep in his mind. However, he had one question.

"So, are you sure Doug and Faith can handle this sort of mission?" he asked.

Layla stopped in her tracks then let out a sigh. It pained her greatly that it felt like the pressure of defeating Freddy was falling on her kids. Even as smart as they were, a situation like this was far different than helping each other with anything or giving each other advice.

"If they can get any extra help, that would be wonderful," replied Layla at last, now continuing to walk forward down the sidewalk. "Besides, it's not as easy as simply forgetting about Freddy. It's going to take a hell lot more. The easiest way is to simply kill him. Besides, it won't be as easy if we try to quarantine any of the kids with the nightmares. The knowledge is too great, that even a few adults older than twenty-one besides us know about his existence. That would be before the Hypnocil gets here."

The couple turned to the very house, who Layla remembered to be Maggie Burroughs's house. The house itself was small, outer part made of stone. The grass seemed to be a little less than well-kept, but still decent enough that it wasn't sprouting out into weeds.

Layla decided to go in front, knowing that it had been a while since last seeing her long-time friend. She hoped this visit would go well.

She and Damien walked up to the front porch, now standing in front of the door. She took a step forward then knocked gently, but loud enough to hopefully catch the occupant's attention, then stepped back to where Damien was, waiting patiently for an answer.

Barely even ten seconds later, the front door opened to reveal a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, looking no older than maybe late forties. Her eyes, which looked tired like she hadn't slept much at all, were focused on Layla, a smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, Layla," she said.

"It's good to see you again, Maggie," smiled Layla. "I have quite a bit to tell you and such."

Maggie nodded before focusing her eyes on Damien.

"Hello, Damien."

"Hello, Maggie."

The two shook hands before Maggie gestured the couple to come in. The three were silent until they took a seat by a nearby table.

"It's about the rumors that's going around that he's back, right?" asked Maggie in an attempt to break the silence.

"Yes, it is." Layla didn't question Maggie about how the latter knew about it. The former knew that a plentiful of adults were aware of the news. "I don't know how he came back, but he's on a rampage. He's already killed three kids and is after others, two of them being our son and daughter."

The older woman eyed her friend, reading the concern on her face. Being a doctor, it was easy for her to read such an expression. From the corner of her eye, she saw the same concern written on Damien's face. Hearing the desperation and pain in the younger woman's voice was enough to tell her that she needed to try to help them.

"I've heard a few rumblings that information about my father had been dug up," she said. "Though, if that's the case, I don't know who."

She leaned back against her seat, her eyes on both Damien and Layla.

"I've also been seeing him in my dreams," she added. "Though I'm hiding while he's attacking others. I earlier saw him try to chase a young man with brown hair, and the guy looked quite buff. He looked angry, saying something about he'll get Freddy for attacking his sister- "

"That's our eldest son you saw," interrupted Damien. "Both of our kids have these daydreams, but now, they're being attacked in their own imaginations."

Maggie nodded, acknowledging the forty-year old's words. She understood that he and Layla were sick and tired of the pain from watching their kids get tortured in any of their dreams.

"So, what's the status?" she asked.

"This special drug Hypnocil is supposed to be here in about six to eight days," explained Layla. "Meanwhile, Doug and Faith are trying to uncover mysteries about Freddy and then destroy him, hopefully with some help."

"I see," said Maggie. "Perhaps if there's time before the whole thing ends, I can meet your kids and get their perspectives on this. That way, I can help you and them, and all of Springwood. I remember helping you, Layla, long ago. I'll do the same here."

Layla and Damien turned to each other with hopeful looks on their faces. This was enough to say that at least they had some hope, though they knew it would take a while to piece it all together. They were more than glad that Maggie had decided to take their side and even come to listen to their kids' soon.

For the first time, the Knight family wouldn't be alone in their mission.

— — — — —

Doug and Faith were on their way home from CVS, still trying to process the events that happened. Doug shuddered from the daydream he had earlier, but he tried to keep himself composed. Faith though wasn't entirely convinced that he was truly okay. She remembered seeing his haunted expression after he snapped back into reality, and she was more than positive that he must've had another daydream. Her worries weren't alleviated at all when she saw a cut on his arm that was already oozing out blood, though she was thankful that Donald bandaged it up before things could've gotten worse.

The memory of this made her shudder and she knew that only one man would be responsible for this. She was about to ask the twenty-year old if he was okay when he suddenly widened his eyes a bit.

"Shit!" he hissed. "We need gas. Faith, you mind texting Mom that we might be a little bit longer?"

"No problem," replied his sister as she pulled out her phone to text her mother.

 _Hey, Mom. Just need to tell you that we'll be a little bit longer. Doug needs gas in his truck. We shouldn't be long though._

After that, she put her phone back in her pocket.

"That's taken care of," she said.

"Thanks, sis," replied Doug, a smile appeared on his face.

"So, let me guess," began Faith. "You attacked Freddy in your dream for nearly trying to attack me in my most recent daydream?"

He nodded, still remembering the dream from earlier.

"I did, even though I was still afraid of him," he said, his voice lower than usual.

"I would've expected you to end up possibly worse than that one bad scratch," said his sister, trying to keep her voice steady. "Freddy has been hell bent on us, all because of his history with Mom. Barely two days here, and things have gotten to levels that I can't even put into words."

Doug understood her point. He was sure he could've been in a much worse predicament. However, he survived again, and he knew that Freddy had been ruthless in attacking him and his little sister.

"I don't blame you," he replied. "However, you've been through worse. Freddy has hurt you more than he hurt me, and I worry that things could- "

"Never mind the injuries for now," interrupted the fifteen-year old, pulling her phone from her pocket. "I'm gonna go ahead and get a head start finding how to stop Freddy."

"Maybe you should hold off on that until we park at a gas station," suggested Doug in a stern tone. "Otherwise, you might get carsick."

Even though Faith wasn't prone to carsickness, she knew it was just her brother looking out for her and hearing how stern he sounded, she refused to argue back. She was thankful for that, even though she really wanted to jumpstart on looking up an idea she had in her head.

"Crap!" she gasped as she put her phone in her pocket.

She turned to him; a smile appeared on her face. He took notice of it from the corner of his eye, though he couldn't fully turn to her because he kept his focus on the road.

"Thanks for looking out for me," she said.

"Just doing my job," smiled Doug, placing an arm on Faith's shoulder.

The two were silent for a moment. Doug's expression suddenly changed to distress when he realized that he'd forgotten to tell Faith the news regarding the Hypnocil, and as much as he knew it would worry her, he had to tell her. No way in hell would he want to hide it from her, especially any longer than he already had which angered him.

"Uh...Faith?" he said, his voice slightly quivered.

She turned to him, quickly taking notice of the sudden serious look on his face and the uneasy tone in his voice. She had a feeling that this was going to be bad, but she wouldn't verbally assume things.

"Yes?" she said.

He placed his hand that he had on Faith's shoulder earlier on the steering wheel, tightening his grip on it. He couldn't pinpoint why but trying to tell her the news felt more nerve wrecking than before, but he told himself he had to outright tell her.

"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you this earlier, but Mom also mentioned something else, being the whole reason why she called me earlier," he began. "I'm afraid it's bad news. The Hypnocil will be delayed by two to four extra days after these four days pass."

"What?" gasped Faith, eyes wide with shock.

"I'm not joking," said Doug seriously.

Faith let out a defeated sigh as she leaned her head against the headrest. Hearing what her brother told her was beyond troubling. Now, she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him what she had on her mind now or if she could hold it off until at least they were at a gas station.

"Just when I had an idea in my head that would give us a sliver of hope," she said. "Of course, something comes to get in the way."

Doug loosened his grip on the steering wheel then used one hand to take his sister's, squeezing it to comfort her. He was silent for a moment, wondering if he should ask her what she had in mind or not. After another few seconds, he decided it was best to ask her.

"What was it that you had in mind?" he asked.

Faith was almost worried to tell him exactly what she had in her mind, but she knew she couldn't lie to him. He read her like a book and vice versa.

"I know we don't know if it's possible to pull him out of the dream or not yet," she began. "But, just to be prepared instead of trying to do things last minute, I was thinking about looking up books of booby traps. We could get one and use it so that if it is possible to pull Freddy out of the dream, we could put these traps together before someone goes to sleep to try to bring him out. If we're successful with pulling him out of the dream, we can lure him to the traps, but we got to be careful to not fall into them ourselves."

Doug was surprised at first, but he nodded in agreement. A lot of times, Faith was one step ahead on things. This was no exception, though he had to pit on himself being the same way at a number of intervals. However, that wasn't the biggest thing he found funny when it came to Faith's idea.

"Sis, you're being pretty subtle about it, but I can tell you're putting a lot of emphasis on 'we' and of course I noticed it," he chuckled.

Faith laughed, not surprised that Doug noticed that no matter how subtle she was, he was usually the first to notice her emphasis on things. She pitted that on her closeness with her brother that hardly anyone else would notice it. Even her best friend back in Columbus never noticed any form of emphasis she used.

"That's because no matter how many thoughts I have about this whole thing that could get us one step closer to killing the guy, I don't want to do it alone," she replied. "It's too dangerous to do this alone."

The older sibling nodded in agreement. He knew that how much it seemed that the horrible-looking man was stalling before attempting to kill him, the man was still dangerous. No matter how many ideas either sibling thought of, no way in hell would one leave the other to do the dirty work alone.

"I would hate for you to do the dirty work alone," said Doug solemnly. "After what he's done to you, it's scary that he's been hellbent on torturing you."

He fell silent for a moment, the memory of Faith telling him about her first nightmare of Freddy Krueger was ringing at the front of his mind. He shuddered when he remembered the exact words Freddy told her.

 _Faith, you are my toy._

Doug was contemplating on telling his sister about it. He was worried about scaring her to the point of making her nearly break down mentally because he knew how terrified she was when she first encountered Krueger. However, something in his mind told him that he had to remind her about it, like it was meant to be a special connection.

After a moment, he decided it was best to remind her about it. He hated having to remind her about the very quote that terrified her, but he knew he couldn't lie to her.

"Especially after your first nightmare with Krueger," he said. "And that quote 'Faith, you are my toy' shit."

Faith tensed a bit when she heard him mention the nightmare and the quote she hated remembering, but she kept herself composed enough. It still haunted her though.

"Damn, I wish I could push that dream out of my head," she said in a soft-spoken tone. "It's just not that easy."

She grew silent for a moment, taking the time to collect her thoughts. The Hypnocil was the top thing on her mind that made a connection with her other thoughts. It was nearing the point of overwhelming her but overwhelming herself with these racing thoughts became the least of her worries.

"Gosh, ever since that Hypnocil stuff, it feels like we're getting closer to uncover it, only to be delayed again," she finished, burying her face in her hands.

Doug knew exactly what his sister was talking about. They remembered first being told the Hypnocil would arrive in two weeks, next to be changed to four days, to now six to eight days. Had he not been driving; he would've slumped down in his seat at the reality.

"You're not wrong," he agreed. "I doubt they would purposely delay the delivery to let us suffer, but it's not looking good."

Before another word could be spoken, Doug took notice of a Shell station which had a reasonable enough price at this time, that he decided this would be one to stop at. He had little to no trouble getting in to find a spot that was reasonably sized for his truck to maneuver. After parking, he shut off the engine then pulled out his wallet from his pocket, hoping that this wouldn't take too incredibly long because he was worried about being out too long and late.

"I hope this isn't too long," he said, more so to himself than to Faith.

Faith, who was near the brink of becoming overwhelmed from everything earlier, looked up then decided she wanted to tease her brother. Even though she considered herself having possibly the worst sense of humor in her family, she felt uneasy repaying him with silence.

"Are you going to stand there looking like an innocent hunk guy?" she asked in her most innocent tone.

He had just opened the door when he heard the question which caused him to chuckle a bit. Even though he needed something to laugh over, she wasn't completely wrong. His looks and personality were quite in polar opposites, he was a fairly buff guy, but he was quieter and more reserved unless he was with someone he really knew.

"Maybe," he began. "But I feel better talking to you. Besides, we have a lot to discuss, which we'll also have to discuss when we get home."

The fifteen-year old nodded in agreement as she pulled out her phone again to look up books of booby traps while the twenty-year old knew exactly what to do; pay for the gas, select the truck's appropriate type, then place the nozzle in its tank.

Faith went on Amazon then went to type "book of booby traps" in the Amazon search box. She hoped this would run smoothly so that she would show the options to Doug and then, they would show the options to their mother about the plans they had to think ahead.

Unfortunately, the screen on Faith's phone was stuck on loading for a while and by the time Doug got back in the car from partially fumbling for the nozzle to stay put, the screen was still loading. Faith initially took it as maybe the internet service was lackluster, but something in the back of her head told her that she shouldn't jump into conclusions. She didn't say anything at first, trying to be patient as possible, but after another minute, the loading screen still showed, and nothing changed didn't make a dent in alleviating her worry.

"Well, this is strange," she muttered to herself, though more quietly than she thought.

Even though the younger sibling said this to herself, Doug was quick to take notice of the troubled tone in her voice. He turned to her to see her staring at her phone screen, which was still stuck loading.

"You okay?" he asked.

Despite how incredibly focused she was on her phone, she turned to him before she could get herself any deeper. She was thankful for his distraction, and if he didn't, she was almost sure she would be thrown into a trap.

"Either internet data is terrible, or something else is happening," she answered.

He took a moment to ponder about her situation. It seemed to him that they were on the brink of bad luck with how things had faired with them.

"Let me check what's going on," he said, holding his hand out for her to give him her phone.

She gave him her phone without question then rubbed her eyes, trying to get herself to stay awake and not dream.

Doug could see the still loading screen on Faith's phone. This puzzled him greatly as to why it was taking so long to load. He tried to refresh the page to try to see if that would do the trick. Instead, he was met with yet another blank loading screen. He let out a heavy sigh then sunk down in his seat.

"This is really weird," he commented bluntly. "I tried to refresh it, still not going to where it needs to go."

He handed the phone back to his little sister without a word then she took it, mouthing a "thanks" before tapping her phone to cooperate with her. Nothing happened after that.

"Well, if this thing is still stuck on loading when this is all done, we'll have to wait until we get back to the house," she said.

Just seconds after saying that, the screen's prolong buffering ended. However, instead of going to the results page, the screen went black for a few seconds then the screen seemed to slowly fade into the familiar burnt man Faith had seen before. He let out a menacing chuckle.

Doug noticed it from the corner of his eye, eyes widening with horror and Faith gasped, throwing her phone to the floor of the truck. Seeing Freddy in a phone screen was the last thing either sibling expected.

Doug was quick to snap back into reality, then he turned to Faith, who looked like she had just jumped back into reality. The latter was still holding her phone and the loading screen had just changed to the normal results page.

"That was scary to say the least," commented Doug, breaking the uncomfortable silence that fell between him and his younger sister after the sudden daydream.

"I'm with you on that," agreed Faith.

She was silent for a few moments, slowly scrolling down at the many results she found. At the same time, a loud blaring of a siren cued up, nearly startling the siblings, but they turned to see two police cars and an ambulance driving down the street, passing by the gas station.

The fifteen-year old began to have a horrible sinking feeling in her chest and her stomach at the same time. She couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but she began to think that it had something to do with the man she saw in her dreams. She tried to continue scrolling through the many results she found earlier, but the sinking feeling was bothering her to the point that she quickly put her phone in the cupholder, her mind was racing violently to the point a slight, but noticeable headache was beginning to build up in her head.

Her brother noticed this, and he turned to her, concerned. He could see by the troubled expression on her face, something was bothering her. He had a vague feeling and idea what it was, but he decided it would be best to ask her before assuming things.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I think Freddy killed someone else..." She trailed off.

He widened his eyes in shock, the same thought she said was running in his head. He could barely keep himself composed enough to speak, knowing that the man of his dreams was one step closer to possibly killing him and his sister. It scared him even more that the thought reminded him too much of the dilemma he and his sister were facing, as well as many others who were possibly scared to dream.

"Oh gosh," he said. "Just when I thought this day couldn't get any weirder."

"This day and this town, you mean," added Faith.

Doug nodded in agreement before looking down at Faith's phone, which was still in its place in the cupholder. He usually wasn't one who liked to snoop on things, but because of the situation, he had to. He saw that there were plenty of results for what Faith was looking for.

"Well, at least we found something to help us through this," he said. "We'll look at whichever one is most helpful to us."

Even though Doug was rather vague in what he actually meant, Faith knew exactly what he meant, and she nodded in agreement. However, she knew that it wasn't going to be the end of figuring everything out.

"When we get home, we can look through those articles that Chloe gave us this morning, and then find more information on this stuff- "

"And we'll have to stay up all night," added Doug, sounding less than enthusiastic about doing the said thing.

Faith sunk back in her seat, the thought of having to stay up to survive was making her headache worse, though she tried to push it aside. She didn't want to let anything slow her down.

"It's going to be one hell of a long night," she groaned.

The twenty-year old nodded solemnly, knowing it would be quite a difficult ordeal for him and his sister. Coffee alone sounded difficult enough, and he wondered how it would go, considering that neither he nor Faith had tried coffee.

Just when he was about to speak any words of reassurance, a loud click caught him off guard and he knew that the truck was now filled up with gas. Without a word, he got out of the car to take the nozzle off and put it back in its original place.

Faith on the other hand took her phone from the cupholder, then stared at the results page for a long moment. She was wondering if she should send the link to both Doug and her mother through email to prevent any further headaches on trying to get where they could find a perfect booby trap book.

After Doug got back in the car, Faith decided it would be best to send the link to her brother and her mother the link. She quickly copied, then pasted the link to a new email, then she typed down her mother's email and her brother's email. She sent the email then put her phone in her pocket.

She turned to Doug who turned on the ignition of the truck.

"Um...Doug?"

He turned to her.

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath.

"I sent you and Mom the link through email," she said.

She rubbed her aching head, which was slowly getting worse. At this point, she was certain that it was her stressing out about the events during the day that was causing her headache.

"Thanks," said Doug as he pulled out of the gas station.

Faith gave him a weak smile then turned to face the front, falling silent for a long moment. Her now pounding headache was telling her to shut her eyes for a bit, but she refused. She had no desire to see Freddy in her dreams, and she already had more than enough on her plate to worry about. She buried her face in her hands, trying to keep herself awake.

"Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep," she repeated to herself.

Doug noticed this from the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but feel for his younger sibling. He put his hand on her shoulder then squeezed it to try and comfort her while keeping his eyes on the road in front of him.

The drive from the gas station to Elm Street was much less eventful and the siblings were silent, on account that they were too wrapped up in their thoughts to speak, only silently giving each other gestures of comfort. The day wasn't even over yet, but it had been too eventful for them. However, they were about to find out that their moment of peace from the events was going to end.

Doug turned right on Elm Street when he noticed an ambulance and two police cars parked in front of a house that was a few yards away from the intersection. Just to be on the safe side, he slowed down a bit, trying to make out the few people standing outside of the house.

Faith noticed the same thing Doug did, also trying to make out who was standing outside of the house. Her eyes widened when she saw three familiar people; Mark, Chloe, and Mandy.

Chloe had her face buried in her hands and from what Faith could make out, the woman's shoulders appeared to be shaking; was she crying? Mandy looked to be in a similar state as Chloe. Mark looked incredibly devastated, his arms were around Chloe, like he was comforting her.

"Oh shit!" gasped Faith. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Faith," answered Doug. "But it looks like we're about to find out."

"Should we pull over and then head over to them or should we park the car at the house first and then make our way to them?" asked Faith.

Doug checked behind him to see if there were no cars behind him, worried that maybe he was going too slow. Luckily for him, no one was behind him. During this, he almost didn't pay close attention to his sister's question, but he made sure to listen carefully to what she had to say. He pondered about this before he made up his mind.

"Might be best to stop by the house to drop off the coffee and then checking out what's going on," he answered.

"Good idea," agreed Faith quietly.

Doug continued to slowly drive down the street until he saw the house. As he parked in the driveway, Faith noticed something rather unusual that showed on the address number. Instead of 1424, it was 1428.

"1428?" she muttered. "Is this some sick prank?"

Doug shut off the engine then looked up at the address number on the house. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at this random change. The last he remembered, he was made aware that 1424 was their address number, not 1428. He gave the address number a closer look, now wondering if this was a sick joke that someone was putting on his family. The more he thought about it, the less likely the thought of it becoming a sick prank was becoming.

"I think there's something more to this than meets the eye," he replied.

The siblings froze, a horrible thought began to race in their minds, though at the moment, they couldn't bring themselves to say it. They pushed the thought aside for the moment so that they could check up on Chloe, Mandy, and Mark to see what was up.


	19. Letting It Sink In

After getting out of the truck, Faith decided that she would take the coffee mix in the house, using her house key while Doug stayed outside, knowing this would be brief. He decided to check a few things on his phone while he waited. Faith ran to the front door, unlocked it, then went inside, noticing that her parents weren't home yet just when she was about to place the coffee mix beside the coffee maker.

 _They must be at Maggie's place_ , she thought as she placed the small pack down on the counter.

After she finished with that, she ran out of the house, locked it, then checked to see if it was locked. Luckily, it was, and Faith was so focused on her and Doug's mission that she barely paid attention to her aching head.

Doug saw her arrive beside him, then the two began their walk to the house where three of their new acquaintances were. They were silent for a few moments until Doug broke the silence.

"I checked my email earlier and noticed you sent the link earlier," he said.

"It was best to," said Faith. "Neither of us would want a repeat of that daydream earlier."

"I agree."

He pondered on what else he could say before any silence could become awkward between him and his sister. They usually found it easy to talk to each other, given how close they were, but after the events that happened today, it seemed that it had taken a bit of a toll on them.

"If that guy decided to mess around with the address number," began Doug. "There could be hell to pay."

"First, he came back which in all honesty, how in the hell did he come back?" said Faith, voice slightly shaking from the fear. "I mean, I highly doubt he came back on his own. Next, he's attacking us because he's angry that he can't get to Mom the way he used to. Next, we found the clues with Weston's Tumblr which I think Freddy might be involved in. Now, I'm starting to think that Freddy must be involved with the messing with the address numbers, yet none of us dreamed of that, if he did. Something really weird is going on here and it's scaring me and probably scaring you too."

The older sibling paid attention to everything his younger sister said, knowing that so much had happened in just one day. Hearing the fear, desperation, and pain in her voice pained him, but he knew this meant that they had to get a move on, or at least start some research on Freddy Krueger. They refused to delay it any longer.

"You're completely right," said Doug. "None of us knew this was happening beforehand. Not until Mom told us, but even we thought it was a tale meant to scare teenagers. I guess not."

"At this point, I almost wouldn't be surprised if it has been real all this time," said Faith, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's scary when you think about it."

Her head began to ache even more, almost to the point of making her dizzy, but she forced herself to keep steady before she almost fell over. Doug eyed her with concern, noticing that something seemed off with her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Headache," replied Faith quickly and quietly, though she found this to be happening at the worst possible time. "It's been that way since we were at the gas station."

"You want to head back home and I can go the scene we saw earlier alone?" asked the twenty-year old. "If you're having a headache, it's best for you to take it easy for the rest of the night- "

"No," she interrupted firmly. "We both need to do this."

The two were just nearing the utter pandemonium of two police cars and an ambulance parked in front of house when they stopped, Doug turning to Faith, eyes written with concern. It worried him that she was on her own feet with a headache and he wondered if she would rather head back to the house.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" he asked. "If you want, I can carry you home before you fall down on me- "

"No," insisted Faith. "We have to do this. We can't delay doing our research any longer. Plus, this shouldn't be long, I'll be fine...for now."

Even though he was worried about her, Doug didn't press on any further because he knew she was determined to see what was going on. The two checked to see if it was safe to cross the street, which there were no cars coming. The siblings crossed the street to head to the house, getting a closer glimpse of the pandemonium in front of them. There were policemen and policewomen and a few paramedics standing close by three sobbing women and two incredibly devastated men.

The siblings instantly recognized that among the crowd were Chloe, Mandy, and Mark. Chloe and Mandy were sobbing, faces buried in their hands while Mark looked like he was barely holding back tears.

Doug and Faith walked closer when a policeman turned and took notice of them. He looked a bit surprised that anyone else, let alone two people, would even come over to see what the whole fuss was about.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to ask you two to step back a bit," he said solemnly. "Too much is going- "

In the crowd, Chloe sniffled a bit when she heard one of the policemen talking to someone, though by the sound of it, he wasn't talking to anyone in the crowd. She turned to see Doug and Faith standing there. She walked up to the policeman before he could direct the siblings back.

"Hey," she said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible, though she felt like she hardly had any energy to cry anymore. "They're just friends, they're new in the neighborhood."

The policeman eyed her suspiciously, but she gave him a look that told him that she meant what she said. He stepped back to head back with the others in the small crowd.

Chloe turned to Doug and Faith, sniffling again before she spoke.

"Sorry about that," she said. "Things here have been crazy. Police were even a bit suspicious when Mark and Mandy arrived."

Doug and Faith nodded, completely understanding and acknowledging what the blonde woman was saying. Judging by the puffiness of her eyes, they could tell that she had indeed been crying.

"We saw this on our way home from some errands earlier," said Doug. "What happened?"

Chloe's face crumpled, the sadness in it was evident. The memory of her seeing the blood on the wall, the blood on the sheets, and the still-state of her younger brother still haunted her. She wished she could push it out of her mind, but she knew it wouldn't happen.

"It's Jake," she replied in a somber tone. "He's...he's dead."

The horrible sinking feeling that Faith felt earlier hit her hard as she watched Chloe bury her face in her hands then she began to cry again.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry Chloe," said Faith sadly as she wrapped her arms around the older woman.

Chloe leaned her head on the girl's shoulder as she sobbed for her dead little brother. She knew who was behind his death, but she refused to mention the name at the time, nor even wanted to go into the gory details about it. She had her mind on mourning over her dead brother.

Doug joined in, putting an arm around the older woman. At the same time, Mark and Mandy turned to see the trio hugging each other. They walked up to them to join the others.

Faith was first to notice as she let go of Chloe then saw Mandy coming close to her. She ran to the older girl then wrapped her arms around her to comfort her. Mandy began to silently cry on Faith's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Mandy," said Faith sadly.

Mandy nodded, acknowledging that she heard the raven-haired girl's condolences. She still cried silently, though also barely having enough energy to cry anymore. She still remembered just minding her own business when she was startled by the knocking on her own, which turned out to be Chloe telling her the sad news. Chloe was originally going to text her, but decided against it, as it seemed a little silly when they were only a house away from each other.

Chloe had done the same for Mark, deciding to walk to his house to tell him know what happened, as he lived across from her house. She wanted to tell Donald, but the entire situation caught up with her, which was why Mark offered to tell him when he got a chance.

Mark looked up to see the siblings comforting his grief-stricken girlfriend and friend. He almost hadn't expected them to stop by, but he remembered them telling him they lived in Elm Street, the infamous street of Springwood, Ohio, so it wouldn't exactly be surprising if they somehow figured out any kind of craziness that was going on at this moment.

He took a deep breath then walked to the siblings who were now comforting Mandy. He could see that she must've been exhausted from crying so much, and he couldn't blame her. Chloe was in a similar state.

Doug let go of Mandy when he saw a tearful Mark standing beside him. He immediately put his arms around the twenty-one-year old man to comfort him.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry, Mark," said Doug quietly and somberly.

Faith put her arms around Mark to console him. He silently cried on Doug's shoulder, though he was a few inches shorter than the other man.

After a few moments, the three let go of each other, still saddened by the death of their friend. They all knew who was behind the blonde teen's death but didn't have the heart to say _his_ name.

"I just hope we can figure this shit out soon before someone else dies," said Mandy suddenly.

"Amen to that," agreed Chloe.

"We really hope so," said Mark.

Doug and Faith nodded solemnly in agreement. They knew that they had quite a bit of research ahead of them, but they were more than determined to do it. It was about saving all of Springwood.

Faith was about to gently pat Mandy on the shoulder when her headache once again spurt into a moment that it was incredibly painful that the world around her almost spun, nearly making her fall, however, she was able to catch herself before she did. At first, she was sure maybe it was because she was overwhelmed with everything, but now that she thought about it, she wondered if maybe Freddy must've done something to cause her random moments of painful headaches before returning to a normal headache, maybe sometime in the last dream.

Doug turned to her worriedly, seeing that this was the second time she nearly fell in an incident like this. Despite his concern, she gave him a look that was meant to convince him that she was fine. He wasn't entirely convinced, but he decided to let that go until they returned home. They were focused on trying to console their friends.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Faith to the three people.

Chloe, Mark, and Mandy shook their heads, assuring the siblings that they were fine, just still finding it hard to take in their friend's death, or brother's death in Chloe's case. Chloe was struggling to build the courage to tell the story about how she found out about Jake's death, until she realized that she had to tell the siblings.

"It's just a lot to take in," she answered. "I'm still shaken by the sight. I was just calling him because I heard him screaming in his sleep. I tried to get in, but the damn door was locked. I had to get something to try to unlock the door, which I did, but I was too late. The scene I saw almost made me want to throw up. There was some blood on the wall, blood on the sheets, blood on him."

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to try to keep herself composed enough to finish what she was saying.

"Tried checking his pulse and if he was still breathing, nothing," finished Chloe, dangerously close to crying again.

Mark put his arms around her to comfort her, still saddened by his girlfriend's brother's death.

"We just need time to let it all sink in and to get through this," said Mandy quickly. "But, thank you for thinking of us, and Jake."

"No problem," said Doug quietly. "Hopefully when we find everything we can about Krueger, we'll honor Jake and the other victims."

The trio gave small smiles, now having a bit of hope to rid the menace of their dreams. Despite only just meeting the siblings today, they had a feeling that they could trust them. Especially with the kind of predicament they were facing, it was best to do so.

"I guess we'll be heading off and we'll probably see each other tomorrow," said Doug, as he and Faith gave small waves to the three, though still with solemn looks on their faces. "Take care."

"You too, man," replied Mark. "And to your sister."

The Knight siblings gave the trio small smiles before solemnly leaving the scene, Doug taking Faith's hand as they walked away.

Chloe, Mark, and Mandy turned to each other, their expressions slightly dropping to more somber expressions, but still had small smiles through their somber state of minds. They took a moment to reflect on the unexpected but nice visit with Doug and Faith before either person spoke.

"That was really nice of them to show up and think of us," said Mandy.

"Now that I think about it," began Chloe softly. "They do seem like really nice people. We should trust them to help us with getting rid of that bastard of our dreams."

"I agree," said Mark and Mandy in unison.

"Chloe!"

The woman in question turned when she saw it was her mother Darcy calling her over. She gestured to her friend and her boyfriend that she would be right back. After that, Mandy and Mark were left alone.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving shortly before my mom starts going crazy on where the hell am I," said Mandy.

"I'll ask my parents if I can stay with Chloe to keep her company and then I'll text Donald the news," said Mark.

"Cool beans," replied Mandy.

What neither friend knew was that in a few moments, they would learn of something about to happen. Also, it would involve nearly the entire community of people living in Elm Street beside the families of the recently deceased.

— — — — —

It had been ten minutes since Donald arrived home, and the weight of the thought of being home sunk down on him. Ever since his recent nightmares of Freddy Krueger, he was almost considering changing his shift a little bit to accommodate a distraction from Freddy, though he knew he couldn't exactly do that at the moment. Classes started tomorrow and he had to get his head straight and awake.

He had just finished preparing his school stuff together when-

 _DING! DING! DING!_

He knew it was his phone that rang, possibly a text message. He took his phone from his nightstand to check the text and who it was from. Unsurprisingly, it was from his best friend Mark. He went ahead to check what the text message was.

 _Hey man. I have bad news. Chloe called me earlier and wants me to tell you this. It's about Jake, he's dead. Chloe and Mandy are pretty devastated. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you earlier, but I was in a hurry to comfort Mandy and especially Chloe. Thanks for bearing with me, man. See you at school tomorrow._

Donald felt a sinking feeling in his chest when he read the text. He didn't want to believe it at first, he thought it was complete bogus. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He had a feeling on who was behind Jake's death, but he didn't want to think about that horrible burnt man right now.

Donald dropped down to his knees on the floor, almost dropping his phone in the process. He could already imagine what Mandy and Chloe must've been thinking and going through, and the thought greatly saddened him. Even though he wasn't as close to Jake as the others, he cared about the teen enough that hearing about his death was sending waves of sorrow in his chest.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door knock to his room. He looked up in surprise, trying to recollect himself for a few moments before deciding to answer.

"Come in," he said.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal his mother, Hayley, who took noticed of the saddened expression on her son's face.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she walked closer to him.

His face fell, his vision was starting to blur, and tears threatened to fall from his face. He felt his world was slowly imploding before his eyes, and he thought that this was happening among the teens with these deaths. Unfortunately, it had to get to him too when he remembered Jake telling him, Mark, and Chloe. As far as he was concerned, no one above age eighteen that he knew of ended up being victims.

After a moment, he looked up at his mother again, agony ripped through his face as he tried to compose himself enough to tell her exactly what he was told. Truth to be told, it was harder for him to say it than come to terms with it, but he had to.

"Jake's dead," he said quietly, noticing the saddened tone in his voice. "Mark told me."

Hayley knelt to him then pushed her brown hair behind her ear, her brown eyes looking at her saddened son.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

He cried silently on her shoulder, the weight of the news still pulling him in, and he was still imagining how devastated Chloe and Mandy would be. All he wanted to do was to find a way how to kill Freddy Krueger, possibly with the help of his new friends as well as his remaining friends to avenge Jake's death. He had a feeling Chloe and Mandy would want to as well.

Hayley let go of Donald after a few moments, now looking at him straight in the eye. He swallowed hard, giving her his undivided attention, knowing that she was going to tell him something.

"Just don't tell your sisters about the murders," she said softly. "It's best to protect them from the knowledge of _him_."

He somehow knew this was coming, though was never told in detail why he couldn't tell his two older sisters Delilah and Daphne. Though after a bit, he figured it would be best not to tell them, possibly for fear that they would think he was crazy, even though he was close to them. Unfortunately, they weren't here, Delilah in Cincinnati and Daphne in Cleveland, Donald felt alone that no one else in his family seemed to be having these dreams. Only his friends did, until one of them ended up being a casualty.

He nodded to his mother without saying a word. She stood up then headed for the door. She stopped though to turn back to him.

"Your father should be home shortly," she said. "Though traffic may push him back a bit. And I came in to check up on you."

He nodded as he watched her walk out of the room then slowly closed the door. He was alone again. He picked up his phone then set it on his nightstand, still finding it hard to let it sink in about Jake's fate.

Taking a shaky deep breath, he sat on his bed, contemplating on whether to reply to Mark or not, though he didn't reply earlier because of how hard he took it. He opened the text message again, staring at it for a long moment before deciding to respond.

 _I saw the text earlier but didn't answer at first. I took it pretty hard, and I'm sorry for Mandy and Chloe. How are you and the girls taking it? Fill me in on what's happened._

He sent the text then let out a sad sigh as he laid down on his bed, waiting for a reply. The seconds felt like minutes, which felt like hours. The time felt like it was dragging as he tried to fight his urges to fall asleep.

"I'm so sorry, Mandy and Chloe," he said sadly, his mind currently on the two girls.

Before he could do anything else, another ding rang on his phone. He widened his eyes, realizing that it was just a text message. He took the phone from his nightstand to check his text message. It was another reply from Mark.

 _Both Chloe and Mandy are taking it pretty hard and I'm taking it hard too. I'm at Chloe's place right now along with Mandy. Chloe apparently said she found some blood on the wall of Jake's room and saw Jake's body with blood all over, three slash marks on his chest, and a deep cut on his neck. She immediately called the authorities then called her parents. She ended up knocking on mine and Mandy's doors to tell us the news, so yeah, it's a lot to take in._

 _Also, those new kids in the neighborhood, Doug and Faith, I think their names were, apparently saw the pandemonium going on while they were heading home from taking care of some errands. They stopped by for a bit to see what was going on. They seemed to take it bit hard. They left shortly before I got a chance to text you._

 _And Chloe told me that her parents are already setting up Jake's funeral, most likely to be tomorrow evening. That's all I know of._

Donald stared at the message for a long time, trying to digest what he was told. What did surprise him was Doug and Faith showing up at Chloe's house, though there was a possibility that they could've passed by her house. The second thing that surprised him, more than Doug and Faith's arrival to Chloe's house was that Chloe's family was already planning for Jake's funeral.

Donald didn't want to imagine what Chloe must've saw, blood on the wall and blood on her brother's dead body. Even the slash marks were enough to scare him to think about, the thought made him shudder.

The twenty-year old sighed then texted a reply to Mark.

 _Oh gosh!_

 _That's really nice of Doug and Faith. They do seem like a good pair of siblings. Charlene has told me about their mother being one of those friends this Maggie Burroughs person has, the two met through an institution or something. Anyway, the two we met this morning do seem nice. I think we'll get along with Doug as well as Chloe with him. As for Faith, I think she and Mandy will click as good friends._

 _And geez! That soon? What's even going to happen during the whole thing, if you have any information on it?_

Donald sent the text then placed the phone on his nightstand, still shuddering at what he heard when Mark mentioned how Chloe found Jake dead. Losing a sibling already sounded tough enough, but having it happen in such a brutal way was beyond scary and sad. Donald remembered being sad when his older sisters moved out for college, but he was thankful it wasn't because of a Freddy Krueger murder. He though couldn't imagine if Doug or Faith had lost one sibling and the other one was left grieving, considering that he knew how affected Chloe was after losing her little brother and considering how close Doug and Faith seemed to be.

He let out another heavy sigh, wondering what he could do that he liked that would keep him awake and that wouldn't be too loud. He wasn't exactly feeling any desire to put himself in any pain to stay awake and even if his parents knew about the killer, he was still worried that it would spark concern in his family.

After a long moment, he decided that he would write whatever was on his mind about Freddy Krueger. At first, he thought he was going crazy to even think about the horrible-looking man, but something in the front of his mind told him that this could be another clue to help Doug and Faith piece everything together. However, he knew he would need coffee to keep him awake because those damn pills were late.

Before he was about to make a move to get out of his bed, his phone rang again, once again signaling a text message was sent. Donald turned to his cell phone then opened the messages app to see another text message from his best friend.

 _No doubt we'll click with them as friends. Kristen even said that they seem like a nice family._

 _And I heard that Chloe might be playing a piece or something on the piano during the funeral. She's already working on it even though she's shaken up about the whole thing. I'm gonna stay with her over overnight to help her with stuff. Mandy just left a few minutes ago._

 _Anyway, take care man, and see you at school tomorrow._

Donald gave a small smile before going on to reply before he would start working on writing whatever came to mind about Freddy Krueger.

 _Yep._

 _Didn't expect that one. Let me know as soon as you can if there's any more information on the funeral._

 _Thanks, you take care as well, and see you at school tomorrow._

After sending the text message, he placed his phone down on his nightstand then grabbed a few sheets of paper and a pen from his bookshelf, placing them on his desk which was standing adjacent to his bed. After that, he turned to the door of his room, deciding to make his own coffee. He was about to prepare himself for a long night ahead of him.

— — — — —

It had been five minutes since Mandy arrived home after heading to Chloe's house to mourn over the death of her boyfriend. She was now slumped down on the couch of the living room of her house, a very somber expression was shown on her face. She wished what she heard wasn't real, but that wasn't going to happen.

Her father, named Max, walked into the living room, taking noticing of the sad expression on his daughter's face. He took a seat beside her then turned to her; eyes riddled with concern.

"What's wrong, Amanda?" he asked.

The girl in question let out a sad sigh then turned to her father. She was silent for another moment, still remembering what Chloe had told her earlier.

"Jake is dead," she sobbed, now leaning her head against Max's chest.

Max could see the evident sorrow in his daughter's actions, so he put his arm around her affectionately to comfort her, feeling sorry for her. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to lose a significant other, whether a boyfriend, girlfriend, or something.

Mandy on the other hand sighed again, wondering how long she would be able to keep herself together before she would end up full-fledged sobbing. The only thing she considered herself lucky over was that she didn't see Jake's body, but that didn't take away the fact that she felt incredibly bad for Chloe having to actually witness it.

Hearing Chloe's story about how she found out that Jake was dead haunted Mandy, making her have images of what Chloe described in her head. The thought sickened her to her core, almost to the point that she thought she might vomit.

The thought that Mandy would never hang out with her boyfriend again sent waves of agonizing grief through her, sending her close to tears. After a few moments, she couldn't hold herself together any longer. She broke down into tears, crying on her father's shoulder as he held her tightly.

Madison arrived in the living room, noticing her daughter's crying state. She turned to her husband; whose expression told her everything. Madison didn't even bother asking Mandy if what she was told through Max's face was true. She knew why Mandy was crying and why Max looked saddened. Madison immediately sat down on the other side of Mandy, hugging her sobbing daughter.

— — — — —

It had been nearly thirty minutes since Mandy left Chloe's house and now Chloe and Mark were now in Chloe's room. Chloe had just finished her piano piece she made up and was set to perform for her brother's funeral tomorrow evening. She found this rather unusual as she usually took hours to maybe about a day, sometimes a week to write a piece.

This one though was different for various reasons. As much as Jake had been a pain in the butt at times, Chloe still loved him and had been at least close with him to allow her to compose a piece for his funeral in less than an hour. Another reason was that she hadn't expected for Jake's funeral to be so soon, especially after she discovered him dead. The pressure was on her shoulders to get a piece written for the day in the small-time frame from now to the funeral. Her mother and her father greatly admired her talent of playing the piano that she developed since she was about six, that she was given the opportunity to write a song to celebrate Jake's life. Despite the unexpected opportunity, Chloe didn't hesitate to take it, expecting for her to take a day to get this sorted out.

The result ended with her writing a song that worked fluidly and in her favor in just a matter of minutes. Even the fact that her boyfriend Mark was by her side at the time was definitely nice extra support for her as she was forced to endure the grief of losing her younger brother. During the entire time she had written her piece, which she settled for a key G minor, she surprised herself by not crying, though she pitted on two different reasons; one being that she didn't have much energy left to cry and refused to use it on crying more, the other reason being that the song she written was more to celebrate her brother's life rather than to mourn over his death despite the horrific scene she saw.

After finishing off her song, which she titled Jacob Anderson's Life, in the typical G minor cord on her piano that she held on for ten seconds, she rested her hands on her lap and Mark smiled at his girlfriend's work.

"Damn," he breathed. "That's beautiful. You pulled this one off well. I'm sure you'll do amazing playing it in a couple of days."

The blonde woman turned to him; a weak smile appeared on her face. If anyone besides her family that had supported her own little hobby, it was none other than her boyfriend.

"Thank you, Mark," she said softly, still saddened by her brother's death.

Even though she knew who killed Jake, she had no desire to speak of the man at the moment nor did she have a desire to find a way to avenge her brother's death right now. Hell, she didn't even want to write an angry piece for Freddy over him killing the younger blonde boy.

Before either person spoke again, the door to Chloe's room opened, revealing themselves to be Chloe's parents, Richard and Darcy, who looked incredibly grief-stricken. The older couple could see the saddened expression on their daughter's face. Darcy was the first to walk to her, giving her a motherly kiss on her head.

"I'm so sorry, baby," she said sadly.

Richard walked up to Chloe then pulled her close to him, hugging her in a fatherly manner for a few moments then let her go.

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this?" he asked.

Chloe nodded without question. She wanted to put her work in Jake's honor rather than hide away in her grief. She wasn't the type to hide herself away but preferred to express her thoughts on paper.

"Alright," said Darcy. "If you need anything, we'll be here."

She turned to Mark.

"And you too, Mark."

The young man in question nodded as the older couple walked out of Chloe's room then slowly shut the door. At the same time, Chloe found herself to be unconsciously playing a tune that she remembered Donald and later Faith mentioning they heard in their dreams in the key of C minor. She could also faintly hear familiar laughter she heard all too many times since she started having the dream. After the last note, Chloe shuddered then shook her hand away and the laughter she was hearing stopped, all the while wondering if along with her grief, Freddy was trying to get to her head.

"The fuck?" she muttered. "I wasn't even trying to play that."

Mark eyed her with concern, now in deep thought. He was beginning to wonder if maybe Freddy was playing tricks with Chloe and wouldn't hesitate to victimize her any longer before the kill. Mark did remember peeking at one of the articles that Chloe printed at the bookstore this morning that read that Freddy had possessed people before, was Freddy attempting to possess Chloe? Mark shook his head, thinking it wasn't exactly something the dream demon would do, as he'd only possessed men, never a woman, but maybe all bets were off on this one.

"Maybe Freddy is trying to get to your head or something," said Mark at last. "Like maybe he's semi-possessing you or you might've had an unconscious daydream."

Chloe's eyes widened with horror, beginning to think that Mark was right. Maybe Freddy was finding a way to lure her into falling into his world by using what she loved against her. From what she saw, Freddy had done that before, but Chloe herself was going to try to do whatever it took to not fall for his tricks if she wanted to stay alive.

"Yeah, we'll get some coffee," she said. "No way in hell will we be dying tonight; we're doing it for Jake."

She stood up from the piano bench then slowly walked down the hall to the kitchen to make herself and Mark coffee. Mark followed her, mostly to see if she needed any help.

After Chloe prepared everything together for coffee, she sighed.

"Here's to a long ass night," she muttered.

Mark nodded in agreement. The young couple were ready to endure the lengths they had to go through to stay awake if they wanted to stay alive, at least until the man of their nightmares was destroyed.

— — — — —

Doug and Faith were sitting at the dinner table with the papers of the articles they were given earlier and their plates of a sandwich. Ever since hearing the news about Jake's death, the siblings were miserable, feeling bad for their new acquaintances.

Doug's face was etched with anguish while Faith was barely holding back tears. They knew things were getting serious now. Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, they learned about Jake's death.

"I can't believe it," muttered Faith, barely holding her disbelief. "Jake is gone. Freddy got three kills in one day."

"It's a horrifying record," commented Doug quietly.

The fifteen-year old nodded solemnly in agreement. She sunk back in her seat, tapping her uneaten half of sandwich.

"It's like what I said earlier," she said. "We get one step closer to getting only a sliver of hope, only for it to be snatched away from us like that."

He nodded, thinking exactly what she was thinking. One day of absolute hell for Springwood was too much, and he knew that if things didn't go along and the information about Krueger wasn't figured out soon, more kids could die.

The twenty-year old picked out one of the two printed articles from the table then began to read it silently to himself.

 _ **The Brief History of Dream Demon Freddy Krueger**_

 _Freddy Krueger was a dream demon who haunts and kills his victims in their dreams. He can go into dreams when there's enough knowledge and possibly enough fear in Springwood, Ohio, though can't spread his influence outside of Springwood unless he uses his daughter to do so. When he was alive, he used to be a power plant worker who later murdered twenty kids. He was arrested, but an incident happened with the search warrant happened, allowing Krueger to be free. This angered many parents as they confronted him in the boiler room of the power plant he used to work at, burning Freddy to death at age 26. However, something happened, three Dream demons offered Freddy to continue his dirty work even after death. This first started in 1981 when he killed 15-year old Tina Gray, though her boyfriend 17-year old Rod Lane, also a victim, was a suspect. Since then, the unexpected teen murders happened, though the oldest person he killed was twenty-one-year old Nancy Thompson. Ever since the first murder, Freddy had been almost unstoppable and only a few have managed to defeat him. This included Nancy Thompson, Alice Johnson, Maggie Burroughs, and Lori Campbell. Between the years of 1989 and 2001, Freddy killed countless teens and few managing to escape the horrors of Springwood. His latest victim before 2017 was Mark Davis in 2005. After that, he was completely forgotten and out of existence. However, rumor has it that Krueger returned around early August in 2017 to cause more havoc among teens and has even targeted twenty and twenty-one-year olds. Krueger's daughter Maggie Burroughs used to live in a different city but ever since the rumors sparked up about Freddy's return, Maggie had relocated to Springwood for unknown reasons. For the first time in years, a plentiful of adults are taking this news seriously. So far, there has been no success in destroying Krueger._

"Oh geez." Doug's eyes widened as he dropped the article on the table. "This guy is more than just something else. If we don't find this stuff soon, we're gonna have a lot of blood on our hands."

Faith sat up, eyes sliding to her brother though her expression didn't change.

"Don't we already?" she asked, her voice cracking.

He sunk back in his seat then let out a heavy sigh.

"I guess you're right," he answered. "Already now a total of four people died since he came back and three people died today. He attacked us and our new friends."

He began to realize that he still had the bandages that Freddy Krueger gave him earlier, so he peeled away the bandages then stood up to throw them away in a nearby trash bin. He checked on his wounds, seeing that they were healing well. He gave a small smile then headed to the sink to wash his hands before he headed back to the table.

That was when he noticed his sister was peeling away the bandages from her own wounds. He began to check her exposed wounds, seeing that they were also healing well.

"We'll re-bandage our wounds in the morning," he suggested.

Faith nodded, acknowledging his words. She took the other article that was closest to her then began to read it.

 _Freddy Krueger is a dream demon who can enter the dreams of anyone living on Elm Street in Springwood, Ohio if there's enough fear and knowledge of him. He can injure people or even kill them, and it carries onto the physical world, mostly using his clawed gloves. He is very powerful that only few have managed to defeat him; Nancy Thompson, Alice Johnson, Maggie Burroughs, and Lori Campbell._

 _Freddy can function in the dream world and in the physical world, sustaining incredible damage and has various abilities. In the dream world, he is immortal and possesses abilities like being able to regenerate lost body parts, shapeshifting, and even telekinesis. He is able to manipulate the dream world around him, mostly basing off fears or personality. On two occasions, he had possessed people, the first case being Jesse Walsh and later Bill Freeburg. In the physical world, it is quite a different story. While he can withstand incredible damage that would kill humans and even still have enhanced physical capabilities, Freddy can be injured and even killed. He can't spread his influence outside of Springwood unless he uses his daughter._

 _There are quite a few ways to defeat Freddy Krueger. The easiest way to defeat him is to bring him from the dream world into the physical world because in the dream world, he is almost impossible to destroy while in the physical world, he is mortal. Explosions and decapitation are usually enough to kill him, though he does show to be afraid of fire, as this was how he died as a human. However, he has been defeated in the dream world such as putting his physical body to rest with the use of holy water and a crucifix. While few have defeated Freddy at all, even fewer have been able to defeat him in the dream world._

"Well, Mom did mention about bringing Freddy into the real world," said Faith at last. "Even though we don't know if we're able to do so, it may be our best bet."

Doug placed his chin on his hand, deep in thought as he tried to process the information that Faith told him. He knew she was right though. Only some were able to defeat Freddy while even fewer were able to defeat him in the dream world, which Doug was almost positive he and Faith would maybe hardly stand a chance.

"Definitely," he agreed. "Though, I'd rather not figure that out tonight, given that we're staying up all night. We may need to come up with other pass times that won't have us fall asleep."

"Easier said than done," muttered Faith, looking down at the floor. "How the heck will we manage?"

Doug didn't answer right away, but he could tell how defeated his sister sounded. He took her hand then squeezed it in an attempt to comfort her. She looked up at him with a look of surprise on her face, but then changed her expression to a small smile when she realized what his intention was.

"We'll have each other," smiled Doug. "We'll try to keep each other awake, but if one of us falls asleep, then the other can keep an eye on them."

"Like we always have each other," finished Faith.

The twenty-year old nodded, acknowledging that she was correct. He let go of her hand then gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder.

"And we're gonna pull this off in the end," he added. "For Weston, for Chrystal, for Sharon- "

"For Jake and all of Springwood," interrupted Faith, her face crumpled into a defeated expression as she shook her hand away from Doug's then sunk back in her seat, her thoughts on how she and her brother faired today and then Jake's death and her headache was beginning to take a toll on her mind.

Doug furrowed his brow with concern, already noticing the change of tone in her voice, which was drenched with despair and agony. Though it saddened him to see her like this, he couldn't totally blame her. They had been through hell and back.

"You're not very hopeful, are you?" he asked.

She shook her head sadly. He knew the one thing she mentioned earlier, and he knew what was causing her to have these thoughts.

"Must be your headache?" he asked again. "It's making you miserable."

She nodded then brought her knees close to her with her dirty shoes touching the chair she was sitting in. She let out a sad sigh, her head was almost killing her to the point it threatened her to go to sleep to ease her pain, but she had no desire to see Krueger again for the rest of the night.

Her brother would've teased her about getting her feet off the chair, but seeing her miserable state was enough to tell him that she was hardly in any mood for that kind of teasing. Instead, it was better for him to at least ask if she needed anything extra to help with her pain.

"If you want," he began. "I can offer you some Motrin or something. At least something that can help you that won't make you go to sleep- "

"Doug?" She shot him a look of slight annoyance for a moment. "If you're thinking about slapping some headache pills in front of me, um..." She took a deep breath then looked at him straight in the eye. "I'm about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich."

He couldn't hold back a quiet chuckle from the comment. He knew that she was not the biggest fan of pills, so he decided to not press her on about that any longer. However, he knew she was joking about hitting him in the head with her uneaten half of sandwich, but he decided to play along with the tease.

"You might as well do it," he said. "You've barely touched that half of your sandwich."

She let out a weak laugh with the expression on her face telling him "no shit, Sherlock" before it quickly changed to a very somber look. Her mind was racing with yet a new thought, something that hadn't even occurred to her until now. She wasn't laughing now.

"What's wrong?" asked Doug, once again furrowing his brow with worry.

Faith didn't answer right away; her head was aching so much that she wasn't sure if she was going to end up falling asleep because of it or even possibly end up crying. She though tried to keep herself composed enough to answer her brother's question.

"I think we have too many things to solve revolving around Freddy. Even though we already know what he is, how we can try to defeat him and then the trap thing, but there's more to him than that. Who brought him back, who's really messing with the address number of our house, or even how Mom ended up with the nightmares even though we were never really specified if anyone in our family among those twenty kids was killed by Freddy all those years?"

Doug was silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. Not once did he think about how exactly he and Faith became targets, now believing there was more than just their grandmother being one of the parents who chased Krueger down then burned him, leaving their mother with nightmares of him. It almost daunted the brunette, but he knew his sister was right.

"Gosh," he gasped. "That's a lot to take in. We really have a lot to think about."

He paused for a moment, now pondering if he and Faith would investigate more of the information they found, and maybe do a little more research on the Hypnocil. However, he did remember that Faith had her headache that was making her very miserable and he felt bad that he would be straining her mind even further. He eventually made up his mind.

"Maybe we'll call the rest of the evening off from the research," he suggested, his voice lower than usual. "We've been through more than enough in one day. Plus, hearing about Jake's death might've added the extra stress. And you still have that headache, I don't want you to have to put yourself through anymore mind strain for the rest of the evening."

At first, Faith stared at him, not exactly convinced about going along with the idea. Despite her own issues, she was more than determined to find the stuff out as soon as possible, probably one of the only productive things that would allow her and her brother to pass time for the long night ahead of them. However, her pounding head was beginning to tell her that maybe it was best for her to not overthink for the rest of the night. All she wanted to do was to not fall asleep.

"Alright," she sighed. "But once the pain goes away, we really need to put our minds on it."

Doug titled his head a little bit, eyeing her with surprise, but after allowing time for her words to sink in, he nodded, deciding not to argue back. Even in her situation, he couldn't completely blame her for being so determined to figure everything out. He just wanted to make sure she was okay.

"I almost forget that you like to work through your pain sometimes," he admitted, suddenly recalling a few memories that he couldn't keep from mentioning them. "Like when you still went to school and did everything you needed to through your cold, even though Mom, Dad, and I tried to get you to take it easy, you were twelve at the time."

She almost couldn't hold back a laugh at the said memory her brother was mentioning. She remembered it very well, the image in her head of her at age twelve stuck with a cold, yet still trying to get herself to go through the day despite how sick and miserable she was. She found it funny.

"Dude, I had a test in like week from that time," she protested, though barely holding back a laugh. "Sure, I was sick and miserable as hell, but I couldn't let you, Mom, nor Dad down."

Doug let out a quiet chuckle at the protest, knowing that even in her own misery, she was showing her determination. He knew that at this point, they could at least look a little more into certain things.

"How about we research more about the Hypnocil other than what we know about it," he suggested.

She nodded in agreement and was about to speak when she and Doug heard the click of the front door unlocking then opening. They knew who it was.

"Doug, Faith, we're home!" came the cheerful call from their father.

The siblings didn't hesitate to get out of their seats then ran into their parents' arms, pulling the older adults in a tight hug. Damien and Layla were a bit surprised by the sudden hug, but they did return the hug, remembering how much their kids went through in one day.

After about fifteen seconds, the siblings let go of their parents, now ready to explain their situations and their discoveries. Unknown to them, Layla and Damien also had some explaining to give to their son and daughter.

"Mom, Dad," said Doug. "We have a lot to explain to you."

"As do we to you," said Layla.

Doug and Faith turned to each other, surprised looks on their faces. They knew that whatever they told to their parents and vice versa, it more than likely could connect to their current situation with Freddy.


	20. Relentlessness

It didn't take long for Damien and Layla to get settled in as they took their spots at the kitchen table while Faith handed the plates of toasted sandwich to her parents. They gratefully took their plates.

"Sorry if it's a little cold," apologized Faith, though her voice was a little shaky. "I thought you'd be home in five minutes after making this."

Damien chuckled, actually almost choking on his food after taking a bite of his sandwich, feeling that his daughter didn't need to apologize. Despite that, he thought that maybe she was still shaken by her dreams as to why she sounded a little off. He turned to his son who was standing next to Faith, who didn't look much better, already knowing that he too was suffering from the dreams.

"It's alright," said Damien at last, reaching his hand out to pat his daughter on the shoulder. "Your mother and I weren't expecting to be out this long. Maggie had quite a bit to tell us and we've told her a bit of what's been happening recently."

"Speaking of Maggie," piped up Layla. "She's coming over here tomorrow, though she's not sure if she's coming before or after the funeral."

Doug and Faith widened their eyes with shock when they heard "funeral" being said. They knew that Weston Heights, Chrystal Smith, Sharon Mights, and Jake had been killed, though neither sibling had heard anything about a funeral so soon. This caught them off guard for a moment, but they kept their absolute attention to their parents.

"Whose funeral?" asked Doug.

Layla's expression turned solemn.

"It's for Weston Heights, Chrystal Smith, Sharon Mights, and Jacob Anderson," she replied. "I've befriended some of their parents and turns out they're all good friends as to why they're all in one funeral. Just about the whole town is going."

Doug and Faith looked down at the ground, thinking about Jake, the boy who the siblings met and the boy who died at the hands of Freddy Krueger. It was a few moments before one of them spoke.

"We met Jake this morning," said Faith quietly and solemnly. "Seemed like a cool guy. Doug and I were on our way home when we saw an ambulance and a few police cars in front of his house. His older sister Chloe had told us that he died at the hands of Freddy."

Layla could see the somber expressions on her kids' faces. Hearing Faith say that she and Doug met Jake then to learn he died was hard for the woman to hear.

"I'm so sorry," sympathized Layla.

The siblings took the two empty seats at the kitchen table then took their places of unfinished sandwiches.

"We just didn't expect for his funeral to be so soon," added Doug.

"Neither did we," replied Damien. "Hell, we weren't even expecting for almost the whole town to come either. The rumors have been so widespread that even some adults are believing this stuff, but most aren't even having the dreams. The police aren't totally convinced, but they are taking out the suicide rule for the previous deaths and that's how the curfew news came to be."

"At this point," said Layla. "I've heard that whoever isn't exactly well known about this stuff refuse to hear anymore of trying to investigate the deaths, at least for now. As far as we are concerned, Weston, Chrystal, and Sharon are single kids with parents not believing this stuff. I guess the same about parents no believing this stuff could be said for Jake's parents- "

"He has an older sister who's about my age as we mentioned earlier," interrupted Doug. "Faith and I met her this morning too and she mentioned she was having the dreams too. Their friends are even having the dreams, among them being Chloe's boyfriend Mark, his best friend Donald, and Jake's girlfriend Mandy."

The couple rested their hands on their chins, deep in thought as they tried to process the information that Doug told them. It was almost terrifying to hear this news.

Doug pulled out of the articles from earlier then placed it in between his parents' plates, as if he wanted them to see it for themselves. This was indeed his intention.

"Faith and I figured out how Freddy is currently here," he said. "He can come here if there's enough fear or even knowledge of him and when people talk about him, it spreads and that's why people end up with nightmares of him, and I don't even think that here, it wouldn't even matter if someone were to tell a friend this whole thing as an act of truth or a story meant to scare kids."

He paused, sinking back in his seat. He was suddenly starting to recall when his mother was telling Faith the story of Freddy Krueger. He turned to his sister whose expression told him that she knew exactly what he was talking about. He turned back to his parents to speak again.

"However, Freddy killed Weston before we arrived here," he continued. "What I'm trying to say is that someone must've found stuff on Freddy and spread the news faster than a local town gossip. The question is that who, which we don't know. We thought this was a fake story, turns out we also ended up being victims. It's pretty obvious that out of the recent bunch of kids he got to, Faith is his favorite, and while he hasn't exactly stated who, but I might even be his second favorite."

"That's not even half of what's been up," piped up Faith. "Apparently, someone's messing up with some address numbers; those being 1428 and 1424 and I'm almost positive that Freddy is behind it. The problem is that neither of us dreamed of it, so, I suspect someone else dreamed it. I remember it being 1424 when we first arrived here yesterday. Then when Doug and I arrived here earlier, it read 1428."

"I didn't dream that either," said Layla. "So, I suppose your theory about someone else dreaming about that could likely be true. I just don't know who would be behind it."

She paused then looked down for a moment, taking time to let this sink in. Hearing what her children were telling her was enough to startle her mind. It went up another level when she saw the wounds on them, showing that today must have been absolute hell for them. She even went as far as thinking about the once-tale-possibly-true situation. Even the very house that she and her family were now settled in seemed to reign a different kind of air, something that could explain why her kids were major targets of the dream demon. She looked up at her kids again, squaring her shoulders before continuing.

"Rumor has it that 1428 had a hefty history, which yes, it is the address we're staying in," she said. "Your father and I bought this house about a month ago, and the Freddy stuff must've begun sometime early this month. We were aware that this house went through quite a lengthy time of renovations before we saw the house, and this house was definitely perfect and simple enough for us. I just can't believe that now, you two are now major targets and Freddy has already killed four teens."

"We understand, Mom," said Doug calmly. "We're not mad at you. Faith and I can take care of this, with making sure we can live in this house in peace. However, had the Freddy stuff been happening when you were looking at this house, would you have turned away from buying this house, or would you still get it?"

He expected for his mother to take quite a few moments to think about it, but much to his surprise, she only took about thirty seconds to think about it. He was now anticipating her answer, nearly at the edge of his seat.

"Honestly, that would a tough question to answer," replied Layla. "I don't exactly have an answer. I would say yes, because it was one that was reasonable enough for us, but at the same time, I would hate to put you two in danger, especially in any more danger than how much I accidentally put you two in. Regardless if I said it as fairytale or not, I take full responsibility."

Silence fell among the Knight family for a long moment. At the same time, another wave of pain hit Faith in the head, but she tried her hardest not to react as she was in the middle of a conversation with her family. The last thing she wanted to be was rude when she heard her mother give her explanation.

"We understand," said Faith quietly. "There's just something weird about the Freddy stuff and this house...like it's connected in some way. And Freddy himself has a whole ass arsenal that for someone like us to defeat him in the dream world, it's almost impossible, we'd be screwed."

"That's why I mentioned that one way about bringing up out of the dream," said Layla. "Or at least for now, you can try to see if you can bring something of his out of your dream. At least one of you can try."

Both siblings nodded, understanding exactly what their mother was saying. As much as they didn't like having to face Freddy, they knew that if they did, they could attempt to get one step closer to ending it all.

"Wait," said Doug, eyeing his mother with slight surprise. "Why is Maggie coming here?"

"She wants to hear your stories about the nightmares," replied Layla. "She's a doctor too, she'll be able to help you. She also might bring in someone else, but she didn't specify who."

The siblings nodded, though neither one spoke. It was a lot for them to process, from reading the articles to hearing the news from their parents. They could barely pinpoint on how much stranger this day could be, strange enough to stress them out.

The older couple had finished their plates after another few moments, kindly appreciating their children for the dinner. The siblings gave their parents rather sad smiles. Faith was about to take their dishes when Layla held up her hand, gesturing her to stop.

"I'll take care of that," offered Layla kindly. "You've been through a lot today. You just need to clear your head for a few hours before tackling on a project like finding out everything you can before the Hypnocil gets here."

Faith, who usually felt complied to help her mother, was not in a state of mind to argue otherwise. Instead, she nodded, her head was still pounding, and she was stressed and borderline miserable.

"Thank you," she replied, her voice cracked and etched with pain.

Layla smiled then went to take care of the dishes, leaving Doug, Faith, and Damien at the table. They were silent for a long moment, neither person knew exactly what to say. That was the case until Damien spoke up.

"The funeral is supposed to be at seven thirty," he said. "We should be at the cemetery by seven. However, tomorrow, after we all leave, we won't see each other until we're at the cemetery. Your mother and I have a lot to cover with the funeral stuff- "

He was interrupted when his phone rang, nearly catching him by surprise. He pulled his phone out of his pocket then saw who it was.

"Speaking of which," he said as he stood up from his seat. "I'm sorry, I have to take this."

He ran to the living room to answer the call, leaving his son and daughter alone at the table. He remembered making a special suggestion for an arrangement concerning of the upcoming funeral, and he knew he had to hear what had to be said.

"Hello?" he said. "Damien Knight here."

"Oh, Damien!" said a voice from the other line. "It's Charles. So, the agreement has been settled. The bank will do our part to help out with the funeral funds, since the four parties need the extra help. You're a good man, Damien. Elizabeth and Riley, Henry and Jane, Drake and Kris, and Richard, Darcy, and Chloe are all very thankful for the help, as I consulted them about our plan. This dream stuff has been getting out of hand, I'm afraid."

"Thank you, Charles," smiled Damien. "It's what I have on hand to be a good man. And yes, this dream stuff is getting beyond insane. I know while we take care of this, my wife is trying to get those pills in soon, and my kids are trying to find out everything on what's going on, as well as to end it all. The last thing we want is another child to die."

Doug and Faith frowned when they heard their father's voice break at "last thing we want is another child to die" but understood why. The thought of either of them being ones to die at the hands of Freddy Krueger was beyond terrifying. However, they were worried that Damien would come close to crying, not that he did so all the time.

"I'm with you on that," replied Charles on the other line. "My only son, Mark, I really don't want him to die."

"I completely understand," said Damien quietly. "Being a father of two, I would hate for my kids to die. They already figured out the rumors have been so widespread. I can't even imagine these kinds of horrors."

"Neither can I," replied Charles. "Anyway, I'll let you go and then we'll all be on with that tomorrow."

"Perfect," said Damien, but his voice sounded a little less than cheerful, certain that the situation from the murders had put some stress on him. "Thank you."

Damien hung up then turned to the rest of his family.

"Well, we're all taking part in the whole situation," he said.

Everyone else nodded, fully understanding the man's words, however, he could see the difference between his wife and his kids. Layla seemed to give a small smile when she nodded, typical how she seemed to be a little optimistic about trying to do her part. However, Doug and Faith wore unchanging somber expressions when they nodded. Damien frowned when he saw this.

"Everything okay, kids?" he asked with concern in his voice as he walked back into the kitchen then stood by the younger man and the girl.

The two looked up at their father, clearly seeing the concern on his face, their expressions didn't change. Truth to be told, Doug and Faith knew how much the dreams had taken a toll on them and knew it would only get worse from here. While Doug was thinking to point of nearly giving himself a headache, Faith's head was still pounding as she tried to process everything. Without any hesitation, the siblings shook their heads.

Damien softened his expression then gently patted Doug's head as a form of comfort. It hurt him to see that his children weren't okay, though he couldn't blame them, given the stuff they had gone through in just a matter of hours.

"We're just not very hopeful after everything from earlier," said Doug, his voice was slightly hoarse.

"I understand, son," said Damien as he wrapped his arms around the twenty-year old in a comforting embrace. "It's hard, hearing about this and then being victims of it. Despite that, it'll be okay."

He let go of Doug then turned to his daughter, wrapping his arms around her to comfort her.

"I want to be more hopeful about our chances, but every bit of hope we get, it slips away from us when something bad happens," said Faith, her voice was drenched with despair.

Damien could hear how distressed she sounded, and it hurt him mentally. However, he knew he had to encourage her to try to keep her head up so that it could favor her survival.

"I understand," he said in a very quiet voice that only he and Faith could hear. "However, please try to keep your head up for a bit. Fighting at your most vulnerable state is better than giving up when you're at your strongest point."

The teen let go of her father, surprised at first at hearing his words for a moment. However, her expression quickly changed to a small smile, knowing that he was right. It was now up to her to try to fight the man of her nightmares, no matter how hurt she could become, and taking this advice was a sincere form of wisdom from her father.

"Thank you, Dad," she said, her voice sounding a bit more hopeful. "I'll keep that in mind."

He smiled before giving her a kiss on the head. After that, he let her go, giving her a gentle smile before turning to the nearby counter. He pulled out a black Keurig machine from one of the cabinets, a few scratches were visible enough, but not enough to bother the siblings, then placed it on the counter. The siblings eyed the machine with curiosity, wondering what their father's intention was.

"What's going on with that?" wondered Doug.

Damien turned to the twenty-year old, noticing the curious look in the latter's eyes.

"You and your sister will need this," he said, gesturing to the machine on the counter. "Better this than having the two of you coming up and down the stairs in the middle of the night. I know it's gonna be a long night for both of you, but it's the best that'll have to do."

The siblings nodded, only tiny smiles appearing on their faces. However, they both understood why their father decided to offer them the Keurig machine.

"Thank you, Dad," said Doug politely, though he felt he could've sounded more cheerful than he actually sounded. "We'll make sure to use it well and not to break it."

"I trust you two," smiled Damien. "You're both old enough to handle it."

His kids nodded again, completely understanding him.

Layla had just finished taking care of dishes when she picked up the coffee mix from the counter then turned to Doug. She walked to the table, placing it in front of him then silently gestured to him to take it. He took it without hesitation, even though he was unsure about this.

"Thanks," he mouthed to her.

Layla gave a quick smile, though was surprised that her son and daughter had been quieter than usual. They were usually fairly quiet, but today, she knew this was different. Though she had a vague feeling on what exactly seemed to be up with them, but she refused to make assumptions.

"Everything okay?" she asked them. "Is it the dreams that seem to be troubling you?"

They nodded, not a single word was said from either of them. Thinking of the man they saw sent chills in them, neither of them had much courage to speak at the moment.

"I understand," said Layla sympathetically. "You two have a lot on your minds. I would try to help, but Maggie will help with what I'm unable to at the moment. All we can do is to contain the guy and be there for each other."

The two nodded.

"I'm going to get some work done before heading for bed," continued the woman. "Keurig thing should be simple enough to figure out. I know it's going to be a long night for you, but I have a lot of hope in you. There's a lot of things at stake here. Until all the answers are found, the best we can do is to contain him."

Doug and Faith turned to each other, nodding in agreement then turned back to their mother.

"Alright," said Layla, her voice now soft. "Take care and goodnight."

"Wait!" called Faith.

The couple turned to their daughter, confused looks on their faces.

"What's wrong?" asked Layla.

"I sent you an email on possible books of booby traps," replied Faith. "I just want to be prepared Incase if at least one of us is able to pull him out of the dream. At least we can try to slow him down before actually killing him."

The couple looked to be deep in thought, taking her words into mind. They knew that she was right. After thinking about this, they turned back to her, nodding in agreement.

"We'll definitely look into that," said Damien. "Thank you for letting us know."

The siblings nodded, both now glad that their parents would definitely consider looking into what Faith had sent. This meant that they had some hope for them.

"Goodnight, kids," said Damien as he and Layla left the kitchen.

Doug and Faith were now alone at the table, still with the articles, Keurig machine, and coffee mix in front of them. They turned to each other, questions of their own running through their heads. Doug was the first to speak.

"Looks like we have a lot on our minds," he said.

"You're not wrong," agreed Faith. "It's a lot to let sink in. I just hope Maggie will understand the stuff."

She sighed as she buried her face in her hands, her pounding headache wasn't helping her case. She had almost forgotten that she had it since she ignored it while talking with her parents.

Her brother was quick to notice this and even though she initially rejected his offer, he hated that she was in pain. He placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her.

"You want some headache pills?" he asked. "I understand why you don't like it, but you've put off your pain for far too long. Plus, maybe you won't be tempted to fall asleep."

She looked up at him, saying nothing for a moment. She never really was a fan of pills as a remedy for a lot of things, but she completely understood his point. If she wanted to stay awake and try to help find more information on the whole thing, then trying to relieve her headache would be the first step.

"Alright," she said at last. "I'll take them."

"Good," said Doug as he got up from his seat. "I would hate for you to be in pain."

Faith almost wanted to make a somewhat teasing remark to him but given her state of mind and how much her headache was making her miserable, she refrained from saying anything, instead nodding to him. She turned behind her to watch him grab a small container from the cabinet above the stove before turning back to the articles in front of her.

After about a minute, she looked up again to see that her brother was setting down two small pills and a cup of water on the table, right in front of her. While she still hated taking pills, she gratefully took them from the table, shoving them into her mouth then took a reasonable gulp of water so that she would have an easier time swallowing down the pills. After that, she carefully placed the cup on the table, turning to her older brother with a small smile on her face.

"Thanks, bro," she said kindly.

"You're welcome," smiled Doug, taking a seat beside her. "Doing what I can to try to ease your pain. And I double-checked them so make sure they didn't make you drowsy."

She smiled again, grateful for his caring self.

However, she dropped her smile when she remembered the first time, she received her headache, being after her unexpected daydream in the car while she and her brother were at the gas station. The thought of the timing when her headache first started up and how unexpected it came was quickly becoming suspicious to her.

The twenty-year old noticed the troubled expression on his sister's face. This worried him and he was wondering what seemed to be troubling her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning to her.

She said nothing for a moment, wondering how she could explain what she had on her mind without trying to wallow herself in self-pity. Even though she had taken headache pills, she was wondering if what the dream demon was capable of would give off a sense of immunity to what she tried to take to relieve her pain.

"Something seems to be really suspicious about this headache," she said in a small voice. "Like, I got it shortly after that dream I had in the truck. I think it's more than just the stress from today. He's been able to possess people in the past. Maybe he's semi-possessing me or something. Maybe he's giving me these headaches as a way to taunt us."

Doug looked away for a moment, deep in thought as he tried to process everything that the fifteen-year old told him. While it did seem a little odd at first, he did come around, now thinking it made sense. He knew that Freddy had been hellbent on taunting the siblings while killing others in the process.

"Oh god," he said, turning back to Faith. "I can see that being the case, since it's not the first time he's possessed people. On another note, I hope your headache passes before it gets worse."

She gave him a tiny smile, hoping for the same, for her headache to be gone so that she could focus properly and not be tempted to fall asleep. She then turned to the articles and then to the Keurig machine and the coffee mix on the counter nearby.

"I guess we'll take this stuff upstairs and then start trying to keep ourselves awake," she said.

Her brother nodded in agreement as they both stood up from their seats. Faith first dumped out the last of the water in the sink before putting the cup in the dishwasher. After that, she took the articles and the coffee mix while Doug took the small coffee machine, with the raven-haired teen leading the way upstairs. They were now hoping that all would go well with their long process.

— — — — —

Mark and Chloe were almost finished with their first cup of coffee yet were both finding themselves to be rather tired. They both knew it would be hard, on account that Chloe had told Mark that there were no Sta Awake pills, but neither one thought it would be this challenging. Also, on account that Chloe's grief-stricken state of mind had made the task of staying awake that much harder, but also more much more motivating to help her in her younger brother's honor.

"How many of these do you think we'd be drinking this throughout the night?" asked Mark who was sitting by Chloe's piano, holding up his cup as a way to gesture to his cup of coffee.

Chloe sighed, sinking back in her bed now in deep thought, though her mind was racing violently. Ever since Jake's death, she had become somewhat more repressed, the memory of seeing the bloody body was still ringing in her head, nearly making her sick to her stomach. However, she kept promising to herself that no matter how much her brother's death had upset her, she was more than willing to stay as strong as possible, especially when she knew there was a dream demon who was out killing kids.

"I really don't want to think about that to be honest," she replied somberly.

The brunette nodded, deciding not to press her further on the question. Instead, he got up from his seat then took a seat on her bed, taking her hand to comfort her, seeing how sad and stressed she seemed, though he couldn't blame her. His poor girlfriend was forced to endure the pain of losing her brother by the hands of that horrible man.

"I guess we'll have to stay strong," he said.

"I agree," replied the blonde. "He would have wanted me to keep my head up during this shit."

Her eyes were slowly becoming heavy as she spoke, feeling very tired from the physical act of grieving. The fact that she was nearly close to falling asleep was scaring her and she had to act fast to get herself to stay awake. She rubbed her eyes then slapped herself in the face, trying to give herself pain to keep herself awake.

Mark noticed this then eyed his girlfriend with concern.

"Pain keeps you awake," explained the twenty-one-year old as she tried to keep herself awake besides taking a few sips of coffee, but she was struggling to stay awake.

"Do you have anything else to do to occupy yourself, like getting your school stuff together?" asked Mark.

He turned away for a second as he took another sip from his coffee, in the duration, no answer came from Chloe. After that, he turned to see that Chloe was leaning her head against the headboard, she was still holding her mug, and the most shocking discovery that he found was that her eyes were closed. A horrible realization hit him, Chloe had fallen asleep and now, it was in his own hands to try to stay up to keep an eye on her.

"Dammit Chloe," he hissed as he shook her mug from her hand then placed it on her nightstand.

After that, he placed his free hand on her chest, feeling her steady heartbeat. This was enough to reassure him that she was alive, but he couldn't be that optimistic. After taking one more sip of his coffee, he placed the mug right beside Chloe's, still keeping his other hand on her chest, silently praying for her not to die in front of him.

— — — — —

"Chloe?"

The young woman in question fluttered her eyes open when she heard what sounded like Mark's voice calling for her. She looked around her to see that Mark was slumped against the desk chair, though his eyes looked unfocused and almost daydream-like. She found this rather bizarre, as Mark was never the kind of person to daydream. She even found it odd when earlier, he was on her bed and the next minute, he was elsewhere, though she rationalized that he must've moved when she closed her eyes in attempt to try to stay awake.

"Chloe!"

She jumped when a new voice called her, this time, it sounded like Jake. Oh, how she missed hearing his voice. The memories sent a painful reminder in her heart and her mind, but she swallowed every bit of sorrow she had. She wanted to remain strong, to keep her head up through her own grief. At the same time, she found it completely strange and she wondered what he wanted from her.

"Calm your ass down, Chloe," she told herself. "You're having a hallucination because you miss Jake."

"Chloe!"

There came Jake's voice again, startling the twenty-one-year old enough that she immediately sat up. She turned back to Mark, who still did not turn to her, as if he were too busy looking outside even though it was dark outside. Shaking herself off, she kicked off the sheets before standing up on the floor, wondering where the calling was coming from.

"Chloe!"

Chloe kept trying to rationalize with herself silently that she was only having a hallucination, but she could hear something else in the back of her mind that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She decided to ultimately be safe than sorry as she slowly walked to the door, opening it before making her way in the hallway then stopped in place, eyes scanning the area around her.

She half expected for another call of her name in the next few moments. However, there was nothing. It was complete silence, so silent that the only sounds she heard were her own heartbeats and her own breathing.

She took a glance back behind her, Mark made no attempt to look up at her, instead keeping his focus on the window in front of him. She decided that maybe he was enjoying himself, so she continued on, trying to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible so that she wouldn't attract unwanted attention and also if her parents were rather puzzled to why she was up so late on a school night, not so much that it bothered them.

 _One, two, Jake is looking for you_

Chloe let out a quiet chuckle, Jake's hilariously bad singing voice and the song itself was humorous to her. She remembered when he came up with it when he was about three when they used to play hide and seek. He had found the original rendition of the old "Buckle My Shoe" song rather dumb, so he created his own version, always something that made Chloe laugh. However, she did find it puzzling as to why she was hearing it. Was it simply another hallucination? She hoped it was, but something in the back of her mind told her that she should know better, to not be so naive.

 _Three, four, Jakey's gonna get you_

 _Five, six, be ready Chloe_

 _Seven, eight, Jakey's coming closer_

 _Nine, ten, hey, found you Chloe_

Chloe held her breath for a few seconds, wondering if his voice would sing again. Much to her dismay, he did not sing again, but instead, it was replaced with laughter, this time, a new laugh that wasn't from her brother. From her past dreams, she knew it was the voice of the person who she dreaded more than anything. Welcoming him was the last thing she wanted to do.

She gave one more glance behind her, just to make sure she was safe, though when she turned back, she was beginning to regret her decision very much. Who stood in front of her was none other than the figure of Freddy Krueger.

The blonde could feel her blood running cold, her heart began to beat fast and pound hard, her body began to shake, and her breathing began to accelerate as the profound fear hit her from the crown of her head to the pit her stomach. In fact, the fear that hit the pit of her stomach was so intense that she felt it doing flips, nearly making her sick to her stomach. However, she refused to leave for the time being.

"How did you like my song? Did I amaze you?" he asked.

Chloe didn't answer as she refused to give in. However, the sick feeling in her stomach from the acute fear didn't go away. Not once did she turn her gaze away from him, still keeping her eyes locked with his.

"Jake taught me that one," he continued. "He said you loved it, like your favorite key."

Chloe swallowed hard then hardened expression, now angry. She would not let him speak about her brother after what he did.

"You motherfucker!" she screamed, pushing him back a bit. "You killed Jake! You killed my brother and then you semi-possessed me! You'll fucking pay for it! I'll survive in his honor if it means I wouldn't hesitate to try to kill you myself!"

Before Freddy could respond, Chloe kicked him in the groin, hoping to distract him so that she could quickly find something to use as a weapon to hit him with. Unfortunately for her, the dream demon was faster, catching her by the wrist before swiftly giving her a cut deeper than a paper cut on her left leg. The young woman groaned at the pain, but refused to back down, telling herself that she would survive for Jake, for her friends, and all of Springwood.

She quickly ran downstairs, desperate to find something to wake herself up. The first thing she thought of was the stove. She quickly turned it on, groaning impatiently as she waited for it to heat up so that she could get herself out of this nightmare.

"You wish, bitch!" came the voice of Freddy Krueger.

He was less than amused that someone tried to fight him. At that point, he held his bladed hand up high, as if he were ready to strike someone. At the same time, he slowly made his way downstairs, ready to torture Chloe some more before finally killing her.

Chloe looked behind her to see Freddy making his way down the stairs with his bladed hand raised up in the air as if he were to strike someone. The laughter that followed was enough to send chills down her spine as she turned back, noticing that the stove was hot enough for her to carry out her plan.

"Fuck you!" she screeched as she shut her eyes, preparing herself for the pain as she slowly rested her arms just above the metal plates of the stove.

She began to feel a burning sensation on her skin, then to become a burning pain. She let out a scream of agony and terror.

Chloe opened her eyes, screaming as she looked down to see two well-defined burn marks on her arms and a long cut on her leg. The pain and terror was overwhelming to her, and she wasn't sure she had kept her head in the right place or not.

"Chloe!" she heard Mark's worried voice.

She stopped screaming, but she was having trouble refocusing her eyes on her boyfriend. Mark on the other hand was trying to shake her out of her terrified, unfocused state.

"Chloe," he said, trying to make his voice was reassuring as he could, though he was scared when he saw her screaming in her sleep, as he placed his hands on her face. "It's okay, just look at me."

His girlfriend finally managed to calm down a bit as she focused her eyes on him, widening her eyes from unmeasurable alarm, as she had succumbed to a horrible realization. It hit her at the core of her being, and the thought of what she did was horrifying to say the least.

"Son of a bitch!" she cursed, more so to herself than to Mark. "I fell asleep."

Mark nodded, but he refused to scold her for doing so. Instead, he looked down, eyes widening with concern when he saw the burns on her arms and the cut on her left leg. He wasted no time as he ran out of her room to find an ice pack and a first aid kit.

Had it just been some stupid regular nightmare like falling from a cliff or something, Chloe would've found her screaming fit after waking up from her nightmare embarrassing to say the least. However, this was no ordinary nightmare as it involved a man legitimately trying to kill her.

Not even moments later, she heard several footsteps getting louder every second. Seconds later, she turned to see her parents and Mark making their way to her rooms, all eyes etched with profound concern. For Mark, it was his girlfriend. For Richard and Darcy, it was their daughter.

"Chloe," said Richard, being the first to put his arms around his shaken daughter, voice dripping with worry. "Oh gosh, are you okay?"

"It's okay, baby," reassured Darcy, gently patting the twenty-one-year old's head. "We're here."

Chloe hung her head in shame, still blaming herself for falling asleep midway through Mark's question about what other pass times she had to keep herself awake. The one thing she found she was glad over was that she was alive. That still didn't change the fact that she was still shaken from her nightmare.

"I fell asleep," she said softly. "Nightmare."

Her parents and Mark all threw their arms around her, all trying to reassure her. One thing they could agree on was that she was stressed from the news of Jake's death. They continued comforting the troubled young woman, knowing that the dreams were far more dangerous than once thought.

— — — — —

The world around Mandy was looking bleak as she was now fighting her urges to fall asleep. Jake's death was nothing more than a painful reminder that the killer was out there in her dreams. She took one look at her alarm clock, the time showing to be 9:10 pm. Sighing, she knew that doing any form of meditation at this hour was not even close to being an option. She did it once, then she dreamed.

The sixteen-year old shuddered at the thought as she rubbed her eyes to try to prevent her eyelids from becoming heavy. She had very little time to properly grieve over Jake at the moment, instead trying to occupy herself in her room without waking up her already asleep parents that would be enough to keep herself awake.

Most of these recent activities she was doing seemed to stem from playing random games on her phone, to writing a little letter talking about Jake's life. She wasn't expecting to be productive, considering that she was still heartbroken about Jake's death, at least until she wrote the letter. She decided it would be good reference if she chose to speak during his funeral, or rather his, Chrystal, Weston, and Sharon's funeral. She knew they were all combined into one because Jake had been good friends with the other three, which ended up resulting in nearly the whole town coming.

She read over her letter in her head, which seemed to be more of a throwing random shit from her head rather than a near professional speech, but she didn't have the emotional stability to make it look perfect. She was still saddened, but she found it surprising that she hadn't cried as she read through her letter for the umpteenth time.

 _Jake Anderson is many things; a grandson, a son, a brother, a friend, a boyfriend. He was always funny with what he said. While it's sad to see him go, his memory will live on._

 _As for Chrystal Smith, Weston Heights, and Sharon Mights, they were also friends, even friends of Jake's. All of their memories will live on and we won't forget them._

Mandy placed the letter down on her nightstand when she once again felt her eyelids becoming heavy from how tired she was. She tried to fight it; rubbing her eyes several times, slapping herself in the face a few times, and even splashing cool water on her face in the bathroom. However, after she got back on her bed, she found herself to be closing her eyes and it was no use fighting it.

 _Damn it_! she thought as she felt the darkness succumb her just after her head hit her pillow.

Mandy was rudely interrupted when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She opened her eyes, looking around for who tapped her shoulder. Much to her shock, no one was there beside her. She found this to be fishy as hell, the building tremors in her body was not helping her suspicious feelings.

A thought rang to her head, one ring that she remembered reading about online was having her bra on encouraged insomnia, something that gave her near morbid curiosity. Deciding that this could be something to try to stay awake, she got out of her bed then headed to her dresser.

Before she could open the drawer, she was interrupted again when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Groaning in annoyance, she turned behind her, only to find that there was no one behind her. She groaned again, this time in frustration.

"Who the hell is playing tricks with me?" she asked, though her voice sounded more uneasy than annoyed.

There was no reply, causing a shiver to run up the girl's spine. At that point, she was growing more scared. Instead of looking for the first bra she could find in her drawer, she picked up her umbrella that she had leaning against the wall. She didn't open it, though she intended to use it as a weapon if someone had decided to sneak into her house. She had seen enough movies on boys sneaking into their love interests' or girlfriends' houses, knowing that she would give the intruder less than a warm welcome.

 _Damn intruders_ , thought Mandy, keeping a tight hold on the handle of her umbrella.

"Whichever fucker decided to haul their asses in this house better get the hell out!" she hissed. "Fuck whoever lays a hand on me or my family!"

She was met with silence, but that didn't hinder her determination on finding whoever decided to disturb her. She quickly checked the time on her alarm clock, it reading 8:48 pm.

The brunette already figured this would be a long night, not that she was hating it, though if it meant staying up until the same man who attacked her and also killed Jake was destroyed. Looking around once more, she found no one nearby her.

Deciding on a new course, Mandy opened the door to the hallway of her house. She knew her parents were asleep, so disturbing them was the last thing she wanted to do. Oddly enough, she found the silence to be welcoming, at least as a sign that she was okay and that she could head back to her room and keep herself awake.

 _TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! SCRRRREEEEEE!_

The sixteen-year old stopped, dead her tracks when she heard an all-too-familiar sound. She didn't think twice when she ran out of her room and into the hall, running down the stairs, the same sound going in repeat.

She suddenly stopped right at the bottom of the stairs when she saw what appeared to be a shadow of a tall figure with what looked to be a hat on the wall opposite of her from the light, as her parents usually had a nightlight downstairs if anyone had to get up in the middle of the night. The next thing she heard was loud breathing cueing up.

"What the hell is going on here?" she wondered to herself.

"It's just your old pal, Amanda."

The girl in question froze when she heard the same familiar scratchy-like voice. She knew she wasn't alone, and the intruder who possibly snuck into her house somehow knew her, now on hot pursuit for her. Despite feeling her blood run cold, she couldn't let her fear nor her grief to stop her from finding out what was going on.

She ventured further down the hall, keeping her breathing as quiet as possible so if she found someone here, she would attempt to go for a sneak attack using her umbrella. Her heart was beginning to beat fast and pound hard, the situation she was in would no way alleviate her fear.

She stopped in the middle of the hall nearby her living room when she saw the familiar tall figure in his sweater, hat, and the blades. She swallowed hard to prevent an audible gasp from escaping her throat, refusing to give the man her sign of fear.

"Hi, Mandy," greeted Freddy Krueger in a taunting-like voice.

The teen didn't answer, refusing to give into him. That meant that she would be killed too, and she promised herself she would survive to honor her fallen boyfriend. Her face hardened with solid anger on her face, ready to confront him.

"You took Jacob away from me, asshole!" she said. "You took a friend, a boyfriend, a son, and a brother away! You'll fucking pay!"

His face was etched with amusement, the words coming from the girl's mouth was nothing more than a joke. In return, he let out a chuckle that worked well for him but scared her. He held up one blazed finger, eyes locked with hers.

"We'll see about that," he said.

Mandy took a step back; the terror was sinking deep in her body. Her blood felt like it was ice, her heart heated fast and pounded hard, and her stomach was doing flips to the point that she didn't know if she was going to throw up or not.

"Hey, Amanda!" called Krueger.

She stopped in her tracks; eyes directed at him. Her only thought was to get out before she could muster up the courage to attack him. Her breathing accelerated due to the pounding fear that rushed from her head to the pit of her stomach.

"Watch this!" laughed the dream demon.

With one swift motion, he pulled up his shirt, revealing how grotesquely blistered and burnt his skin was. However, that wasn't the end of it. He swiftly cut his skin, revealing greenish-like liquid and white maggots in his body.

Mandy could feel her stomach was heaving from the sight of this. No way had she imagined this would be what he showed her. Her stomach was heaving so much and rather quickly that she had no time to swallow back vomit. Without thinking, she dropped her umbrella to the floor then ran to the front yard, vomiting in the grass. She hoped that he hadn't followed her here, as her incredulous fear was too great for her to see him again.

"Aww, your mediation couldn't help you that time? Too bad Mandy!"

The voice that she heard sounded awfully close. She had then stopped vomiting and was about to turn back when she felt three blades and a melted sensation of a hand touching her stomach. She turned to see that it was Freddy who looked to be cradling her stomach. She nearly gagged in response.

"What the hell?" she cried as she shook herself away from his grasp.

Wiping her mouth, she turned to him, angry again.

"Fuck you!" she screamed.

Immediately after, she kicked him in the leg, an amused look appeared on her face when she saw Freddy gasp in surprise then clutched his leg. However, Freddy was less than amused at the kick. He let go of his leg then stared at Mandy, eyes gleaming with anger.

"It's gonna be a little warning for your new friends," he said softly, his bladed finger now inches from her chest.

"No!" cried Mandy, closing her eyes.

Her eyes fluttered open as she sat up on her bed, screaming for a few seconds. She was panting and sweating from the fear that she felt earlier as she looked around, finding that she was back in her room, on her bed. She had no time to curse to herself at the moment because at the same time, she saw her mother and her father rushing into her room, noticing the panic in her body language.

"Mandy!" gasped Max, rushing to his daughter's side, trying to calm her down. "Are you okay?"

Madison looked equally as worried, rushing to her daughter to help her calm down. She could very vividly remember hearing her daughter's ear-piercing scream which was enough to tell her and her husband that something was wrong.

"Jesus," she shuddered. "Deep breaths, Mandy. We're here."

It took a bit for Mandy to catch her breath as she tried to process the reality around her again. Much to her dismay, she had fallen asleep.

After managing to catch her breath, she looked up to see the worried looks of her parents now on either side of her. She was more than just guilty for waking up and worrying her parents, but at the same time, she was glad someone was there with her, had she not woken up in time, she would have very likely been dead.

"Crap," she muttered, angry with herself. "I fell asleep."

"Shhh," hushed Max. "You're okay. It's just a dream. Soon enough, _he_ won't hurt you anymore."

"Mandy?" said Madison, now petting the teen's brunette hair. "Are you feeling stressed from what happened earlier?"

Mandy thought for a long moment, her mind now tracing back to learning about her boyfriend's death. Yes, she was sure that it was haunting her, and she had a feeling that Freddy wouldn't hesitate to try anything to use Jake as a bait before killing her. She was sure the dream demon would do the same for his older sister, and the thought made her sick to her stomach.

"Probably," she admitted quietly.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," sympathized her mother. "You want one of us to be with you?"

The sixteen-year old nodded, her head still clouded from nightmare and in desperate need to get help with trying to stay awake.

Madison turned to her husband.

"I'll stay with her and you can go to sleep," she suggested.

Max nodded then turned to leave Mandy's room, leaving Mandy and Madison alone.

"How about some coffee?" asked Madison.

Mandy immediately nodded, something that could help her stay awake was something she desperately needed, and someone to help quiet her uneasy state of mind. If only Jake were alive... the thought rung in her head violently and she wondered if she would eventually lose it, but she hoped she didn't, given that this would be a long night for her. She gave a quick glance at her alarm clock that read 9:15 pm. She shuddered, now forcing herself to prepare for the rest of the long ass night ahead.

— — — — —

Several thoughts ran through Maggie Burroughs's head after her meeting with the woman who she had discussing things a lot with her husband. While she had not met the children of her former patient yet, she heard enough that could allow her to help in any way that she could. She had already made a mental note to stop by Layla's house tomorrow evening after the funeral that had nearly the whole town to show up. Maggie knew how the deaths happened, but she would damn well pay her respect for the four teens that lost their lives against the menace of her father.

She turned to her mug of coffee, deep in thought, remembering several things that happened almost two decades ago. There was the time when she had returned to Springwood with her old friend Doc as well four teens, three of them were killed and later Maggie herself making the discovery that she suppressed years ago that she was indeed Freddy's daughter. She had taken in the last of the group, killing Freddy with a pipe bomb after pulling him out of her dream. There was also the time when she had brought together several people to destroy Freddy in the past near decade...

The Nightmare Warriors!

However, Maggie was made aware that most of the group had gone into hiding and now, there was only one person left who she could contact who also wouldn't mind taking part of the quest. She remembered him very well, who helped with the original Dream Warriors.

The woman's eyes widened when she remembered his name. Though it had been years since she last made contact with him, she knew that he too would be able to help with Damien and Layla's son and daughter. With the man she had in mind being a retired psychologist, she knew that she had to at least try to get in contact with him to see if he could come along.

Without a moment of hesitation, she took her phone out from her pocket then went to speed dial a familiar name. The phone rang twice before other line was answered.

"Hello?" said a male voice.

"Hello? Neil?" said Maggie. "It's Maggie Burroughs. I'm calling because I need you for something."


	21. Caved In

"I think Faith is really onto something," said Layla as she was on her bed, scrolling through the Amazon page of booby trap books that her daughter had sent earlier through an email.

"Is it that link of those booby trap books she mentioned?" asked Damien, looking up from reading his copy of _The Shining_.

Layla nodded, still skimming through the books, deciding to pick one that wasn't too cheap, but was more reasonably priced. She knew that she had to get on to buying one soon so that her kids could be able to plan on traps, if either one was able to pull things from their dreams successfully.

The thirty-nine-year old man closed his book before turning to his wife. His expression turned solemn and almost sad in nature as a thought rang through his head.

"Layla?" he said.

The woman in question looked up at her husband, raising her eyebrows in concern when she saw his expression.

"What's up?" she asked.

Damien sighed as he put his book on his nightstand before turning back to her. After everything he heard, he was at the point of beyond worried.

"I'm really worried for our kids," he said solemnly. "Everything they've been through, it's hard to wrap my head around it. And seeing those injuries they got, I didn't even want to bother mentioning it to them. I'm especially worried for Faith. I know Doug tries his hardest to be there for her when we can't, but I'm worried that even he won't be able to save her from this mess."

Layla could read the worry on his face as she began to play with his hair, mostly out of comfort. She knew how much her husband cared for their children, but she knew that if they were going to keep surviving, she had to tell Damien that he had to have some faith for them.

"I hear you," she said. "But we also have to have faith in them. Doug is twenty and Faith is fifteen. They've always been there for each other and this is no different, except for the dream stuff. We can't lose hope for them."

Damien nodded, changing his worried expression to a more hopeful look. He was now beginning to hate himself for allowing to give advice to his son and daughter, yet never seemed to follow his own.

"Sorry Layla," he said quietly. "I've been so paranoid lately, even if I manage to hide it a bit."

"No problem," smiled Layla as she let go of her husband's hair then turned back to her phone.

Barely a minute after, she tapped on the second book of booby traps on the first page. The book itself was colored in a beige-like color with the text in a black-colored Chiller font reading: _Making Booby Traps_. Below the text adorned what looked to be a rat trap.

Layla smiled, satisfied with it. She immediately went to carry on with the steps of purchasing it, at one point asking Damien to get her purse. Overall, the process barely took any time and she saw that the book would be getting here in a matter of two days.

"Thing should be here pretty soon," she said cheerfully. "Specifically, in two days. Should give the kids enough time to figure this stuff out."

Damien smiled a smile that showed that now, he was much more hopeful. Now, all they could do was to wait for the book to get in.

— — — — —

After finishing up the last few pages of his book, _Star Wars the Force Unleashed_ , Donald sighed before taking another sip from his second cup of coffee. Trying to stay up had been much harder than he originally thought, at least for these recent days, before actually falling asleep. This time, he felt that he was doing okay. However, he somehow surprised himself with trying to stay up reading books when reading books was meant to help you fall asleep, though he had chucked on drinking coffee.

Everything was completely silent in his room, save for the subtle sound of the air conditioner and earlier, the occasional sounds of turning pages. However, that was finished, so now he had to find a new book from his black average-sized bookshelf to read. He was less than interested at the thought of spending nearly the whole night scrolling through his phone which he knew would irritate his eyes even more than how much he was already doing so.

He got up from his bed, taking his book with him as he walked to his bookshelf to find a new book to read and to put the one, he had in his hand back. It didn't take him long to find a new book, as he settled for his copy of _Friday the 13th The Final Chapter_ novel. After taking the book from the shelf and putting the one he finished on the shelf, he headed back to his bed, but he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Even with the coffee he still had on his nightstand beside him, he could barely muster to keep his eyes open because of how tired he felt. The grief he felt for Mark and especially for Mandy and Chloe after Jake's death not only put a huge hole in his chest, but also had greatly exhausted him.

He remembered first meeting Jake just about a week after Mark and Chloe began dating, which had been about four years ago. He had grown to like Jake, mostly finding some occasional humor on Jake's stubbornness, which also amused Mark. It was an innocent meeting at the local coffee shop in Springwood as it had been Chloe's idea to bring Jake, who also brought Mandy, the two at the time been friends, just about two years before Jake and Mandy had officially dated.

Donald remembered having been mostly quiet during the meeting, though he took a liking in Jake and Mandy after mostly sticking with Mark and then later Chloe.

Then just hours earlier, he had come into the Springwood College Bookstore to meet up with Chloe and Mark, taking Mandy and Jake with him, as he'd been making sure they got everything they needed. That was when they all met the new siblings who moved into town, both had come in on account of their recent dreams. Donald himself being the first who heard of the strange and creepy song that Faith later heard. Then just hours later, he had received a text from Mark that Jake was dead. Time was passing too quickly, and far too painfully for him to take.

The weight of the grief he felt was on a profound level, the level that he couldn't exactly put his finger on. Even though he had no desire to see the horrible man of his nightmares, if he had to see him again, he wouldn't mind personally beating the hell out of Krueger, even though he knew he barely stood a chance. It was only out of anger and grief.

Sighing again, he opened his book, now trying everything he could to put his focus on his book and less on other stuff that was painfully nagging his brain. At least it would be an attempt to try to keep himself awake. He hoped it would work.

Unfortunately, his eyes were growing heavier and heavier every second. Later on, he had barely finished the first page before he had succumbed to this tiredness, closing his eyes and his hands had slipped away from his book, his book then closed.

It felt like moments had passed for twenty-year old when he heard the creaking of a door opening. Opening his eyes, Donald scanned around from what door could have opened that was enough to startle him. The doors to his room and his closet were both open when he usually had them closed, which he found to be rather strange, and he knew his parents wouldn't even try to bother him, even when he was now beginning to hope he was with them.

"The heck?" he wondered.

Only silence answered him, causing an uneasy feeling to slowly build up in his head. Deciding to maybe see what was going on, he sat up on his bed then stood up on the carpet, trying to keep his breathing slow and quiet even though he was a little unsettled.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked to his closet, wondering if there was anything suspicious in there that wasn't his own clothes or socks. He turned on the light, expecting for there to be no more than his own stiff. The closet itself was relatively neat, at least neat enough to clear his head of any worries. He also always left one spot on the top left corner of his small shoe rack empty for hardly much reason, other than he had a strange habit of doing that since he was sixteen.

However, the usual empty slot of his shoe rack was filled by an old brown fedora hat. Donald's eyes widened with shock and almost borderline horror, as he knew who the hat belonged to, the name sending a wave of horror at the core of his chest. He quickly grabbed the hat, turned off the light, then shut the door, now the paranoia was rooting itself deep into his mind and his stomach. Despite the sinking feeling of dread, he tried with every ounce of effort he could to keep himself calm, as the situation didn't feel right to be full-fledge freaking out.

Grabbing a flashlight from his dresser, which he always had on hand in case of anything, he turned on the flashlight then made the slow, careful journey out of his room. He was careful because he had no desire to wake up his parents, not that they would get mad at him for waking them up. He was the one being disturbed, but he wasn't going to make it about himself, as the entire dream situation was affecting a number of teens and a few people around his own age.

The young man made his way down the hall of his house when he could faintly hear two things. The first was heavy breathing, not his own, but someone else's, sending a wave of chills down his spine. The second was a song he heard before; one he was all too familiar even though he didn't want to be.

 _One, two, Freddy's coming for you_

 _Three, four, better lock your door_

 _Five, six, grab your crucifix_

 _Seven, eight, better stay up late_

 _Nine, ten, never sleep again_

At this point, Donald could barely pinpoint which scared him the most, the heavy breathing, or the sounds of children singing the song he heard before. What made this even more unsettling was hearing the breathing sounding like it was in sync with the beat the song. It was on repeat as he continued to head down the stairs, only the breathing and the singing grew louder. It was enough to nearly wear on his sanity.

After making it downstairs, he first checked the front window, as if he hoped everything outside was normal. However, when he opened the blinds, his eyes widened with horror as he saw three girls who looked to be between the ages of five and ten in his front yard, two of the girls were swinging a jump rope, and the other girl was jumping to the beat of the song and the heavy breathing. The increased beating of his heart that he was feeling was enough to have him shut the blinds, deciding that seeing what he saw was not what he expected nor wanted to see.

However, the two sounds kept replaying as the air in his home was beginning to change, feeling colder than usual. The torment on his mind was at the point of endless as he continued down the hall, heading for the garage for an extra pair of batteries to have on hand just in case the flashlight's current batteries were to run out.

As Donald opened the door, instead of finding himself in the garage, he was instead in an all too familiar area with endless pipes and scorching heat that was hotter than the summers he had experienced in his entire life of living in Ohio. Beads of sweat began to form then fall from his face and his back, making his clothes stick to his skin, a feeling he found unpleasant, but in his current situation, that was at the least of his concerns.

"This isn't good at all," he said to himself as he turned off his flashlight then threw it in the hall of the house, though the sound of his flashlight clattering on the floor caused him to cringe.

Turning back forward and keeping a tight hold on the hat, Donald continued forward, but this time, the singing had stopped, but the breathing could still be heard. The sound was still less than pleasant to his ears, but it kept him determined to find where the breathing was coming from.

He continued to walk down the catwalk, still keeping a tight hold on the hat as he looked around, the steam occasionally hissing. He tried to keep his breathing slow, deep, and steady so that he wouldn't completely freak out, even though the sound of the hissing did frighten him a bit.

Dead ahead, he noticed something hanging on the pipes and the agonizing morbid curiosity told him that he should check out. Even though he was incredibly uneasy about continuing forward, he continued forward anyway, trying to make a more sensible thought that maybe, this could be a clue he could provide to his friends.

Just when he was barely five feet away from the strange, he noticed earlier, he gasped in horror when he saw one of the most horrific things he had ever seen in his life. Hanging upside down on the pipe was a bloody body, the face was far too familiar, sending a powerful wave of horror and grief in the young man.

"Jake!" he gasped as he covered his mouth, barely able to contain his fear.

Just seconds later, he clutched his stomach, that hand still holding the hat, as he felt a knot of profound fear tie in it. He thought things couldn't get any more terrifying than before, but he was gravely wrong. The sight of seeing Jake's bloody body reminded Donald of the painful grief he felt for his friends, painful enough to make him physically sick to his stomach.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow of a tall figure on the wall to his right, the blades were very prominent. Donald could've sworn he heard a dark laugh that nearly interrupted his thoughts.

"I think you have something that belongs to me."

That voice! Donald could feel the inside of his body begin to shiver even though it was blistering hot in here. He was sure it was the terror that was causing him to shiver, though he couldn't remember being that scared. Sure, he had been scared in the recent dreams, but this time was far too different, from the unsettling syncing beat of the song and the breathing, to the air's unsettling change, to the horrific sight of Jake's bloody body staring right at him.

The young man swallowed hard before turning to face the man who had terrorized him before. Freddy Krueger was quick to snatch the hat away from Donald's hand then he put it on his head, covering his blistered, burnt, bald head.

"Oh, I know you're upset, Donald," said the dream demon. "Jake was your friend. However, you shouldn't worry, because you'll be next." He let out another dark chuckle before he spoke again, this time gesturing to his hat. "And by the way, I thought this would be a nice little surprise."

Donald shook his head, having no desire to give into a horrible-looking man like the one he was facing right now. He was not even close to being ready to die, though he was not equipped with the proper weapons to fight Krueger.

Freddy though was not hesitating as he raised his bladed hand in the air, as if he were ready to strike the younger man. However, Donald's quick thinking kicked in, kicking Freddy in the groin, buying him enough time to run away from him.

Freddy though was less than amused at being kicked once again. He turned back to see his potential victim running away from him, now angry that the fool would get away with that. He knew that if he wanted to play with Donald, he would have to think fast to try to stop him from running away

Donald continued to run and was just about to turn the corner when he felt an unknown force lift him up into the air for about a moment before being thrown into the pipes, landing back first on the catwalk. He let out a gasp from the pain, taking a moment to recover before deciding to get back on his feet.

However, before he could get back up, he felt yet another unknown force mess with his body, this time pushing him back on the catwalk. His breathing was slowly but surely accelerating from the fear he couldn't even shake off. He decided not to bother trying to get back up again, worried that the unknown force would come back again.

 _SCCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

"Oh, there was something I know you read of," mused Freddy. "I hath telekinesis, and I have quite a bit to mention."

Donald could see the older man's shadow on the pipes as the fear crawled everywhere in his body like a phantom that clung too deep to its victim. He looked around, wondering when the bastard would physically show up other than just a shadow.

Just when he looked to his left, there was Freddy Krueger sitting beside the young man, sporting a twisted grin on his face as he looked down at him. For Freddy, he was a little enthusiastic as he was about to do something he had never done before. For Donald, this experience was far too terrifying to comprehend.

"I think this will be a test for my favorite one right now," purred Freddy.

Not a single moment of hesitation as he used one blades finger to cling to the end of Donald's shirt, lifting it up to the end of the brunette's rib cage. What Freddy saw was one step closer to the chance of playing this game with the new girl, as his eyes glinted with interest at the somewhat defined six pack on Donald.

Donald on the other hand turned his head away, trying to shake himself out of Freddy's grasp, but it was no use. Freddy had him exactly where he wanted him.

"I think you serve as my number three, Donald," said Freddy as he traced his bladed finger on Donald's stomach, the latter shuddering at the feeling. "Your new friends though, they're in the top two. The one your age is now my number two, and the girl is my number one. Such delicious, lean, fresh meat."

Donald's horror increased when he heard this because he knew who the dream demon was talking out. It was scary enough when his new friends were already having dreams, but hearing this disgusting man speak in such a way about them angered him enough that he kicked Freddy again, this time kicking him in the chest. This allowed him to get back up on his feet and then allowed him to escape.

Unfortunately, the process sent a slight stingy pain on his stomach, but he had to find a way out of Freddy's sight in order to see what it was. Luckily, he hid behind a few pipes, tracing his own hands on his bare stomach when he felt a slightly wet sensation. He stopped in his tracks as he brought his finger to eye-level, noticing some blood had covered the tip of his fingers.

 _Oh shit_ , he thought worriedly.

"You can't hide for long, Donald!" yelled the voice of Freddy Krueger.

Donald chose to say nothing in response, instead knowing that he would have to leave his hiding place soon. With his heart hammering in his chest and beating fast from the impending terror, he slowly backed up, trying to keep his footsteps as quiet as he could. He even went as far as trying to keep his accelerated breathing as quiet as he could so that he could hopefully not catch Krueger's attention.

"I didn't know stealth was your thing."

Donald could've sworn he felt his heart skip a beat from how close Krueger's voice sounded to him, close enough to be said in his ear. He stopped in place then turned behind him, just to make sure no one was behind him. However, when he saw who it was, he was beginning to regret turning back.

"Oh Donald," cooed Freddy. "I just want to play."

"No!" shouted Donald.

Without thinking, he hit his arm against a large boiler pipe beside him. What followed was an intense burning pain, causing him to scream in agony.

Freddy laughed as he walked closer to the injured young man, raising his bladed hand in the air, once again preparing to strike. Just before he could deliver a blow, Donald had disappeared from the dream world.

"Son of a bitch!" yelled Freddy. "I had him!"

— — — — —

Donald's eyes opened as he was screaming, the horror of the dream still fresh in his mind. In fact, he was so wrapped up in his own state of mind that he barely heard footsteps making their way up the stairs, making it sound like multiple people were running.

"Donald!" cried Hayley and her husband William as they rushed to their son's side, trying to calm him down.

"Shhh, it's okay Donald," reassured William. "Your mother and I are here."

It took a moment for Donald to try to reconnect with reality again, his eyes now directed at his parents. A wave of guilt washed over him when he figured out why they were here, awake.

"Oh gosh," he groaned, hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry for waking you up, Mom and Dad."

"Don't be sorry, Donald," assured Hayley. "It's probably the dreams, isn't it?"

Donald nodded without hesitation, angry at himself for falling asleep. He never meant to do so, but he had been so tired that it was at the point of near impossible to stay awake. Despite that, he was sure it was not a good excuse for him to fall asleep.

"I'm sorry those pills couldn't be in and I'm sorry for how much it troubled you at work," said William. "I remember helping a young man about your age and a teenage girl, and I had to tell them the same, besides you."

Donald said nothing, but he leaned into his mother for comfort. Hayley was about to wrap her arms around him, when she noticed a red mark on his arm, a burn mark. She grabbed it to examine it more closely, showing that it was indeed a burn mark. Her eyes widened with concern, but she refused to panic.

"I'll get an ice pack for that," she said quickly before leaving the room, her husband closely following her.

Donald went to leave his room then headed for the bathroom to get a closer look at the damage he received from his dream. After turning on the light, he squinted his eyes, trying to get used to the bright light.

After his eyes adjusted to the light, he lifted his arm to see the burn mark. He was surprised to see it; it was fairly defined.

The next thing he did was lift up his shirt, remembering that he felt a wet sensation on his stomach which appeared to be blood. He took one good look at the mirror, his eyes widening when he saw a small but defined cut on the top right-hand corner of his stomach, and it was oozing out some blood. Though it wasn't nearly enough to cause great concern, he refused to take chances as he tore two sheets of toilet paper then folded it. He placed it on the wound, applying just enough pressure to try to stop the bleeding as he frantically looked through cabinets for medical supplies.

"Thanks a lot, Freddy Krueger," he said sarcastically as he was quick to find what he needed to make sure the wound would heal properly, later throwing the toilet paper he used as a temporary bandage away in the trash can.

However, he had a thought that told him that his shirt would get in the way, no matter how many times he tried to push it out of the way, especially if he wanted to make sure he got the process of fixing his wound down properly. Sighing, he took off his shirt then went straight to work, starting with cleaning his fingers from the blood before cleaning the wounded area, and any excess blood that might have trickled down his skin, which wasn't much. Putting ointment on the wound took no time before he took a medium-sized bandage then covered the wound with it.

Satisfied with the patch-up work, the twenty-year old put his shirt back on then headed for his room just when he saw his parents coming up the stairs, his mother holding a very small ice pack.

"You'll need this," she said, handing it to her son.

He gratefully took it then placed it on his burn mark.

"Thank you," he smiled.

"You're welcome," replied William. "Your mother and I are heading back to bed, but if you need anything else from us, let us know."

Donald nodded as he retreated to his room and his parents retreated back their room. He checked the time on his phone which was sitting on his nightstand, reading 11:45 pm, which he surprised himself with that one. However, he knew he had several more hours to go before he had to get ready for his first day of classes. He took a sip of the coffee he left on the nightstand, greatly hoping he wouldn't fall asleep again for the rest of the night.

— — — — —

It was fifteen minutes after twelve and Doug and Faith were already in their pajamas, though they weren't going to go to sleep. Instead, they were given their parents' spare Keurig machine to have upstairs without the siblings needing to run up and down the stairs for more coffee. It was the best that could be done, since the Sta Awake pills were late.

Luckily for the siblings, they seemed to be in a much better state of mind (Faith's headache having slightly subsided which she was more than glad over, thanks to the Motrin Doug offered her earlier) so it wasn't like it was draining to have them try to stay awake. Unfortunately for them, after having prepared their mugs of coffee, they grimaced at its peculiar smell. Even when their parents had mentioned before to them that they were allowed to drink coffee at age eighteen, it didn't mean either one would be willing to do so.

Doug remembered being asked a few times if he wanted coffee shortly after turning eighteen. He refused, thinking it made him seem too sophisticated which he didn't find himself to be that kind of guy.

There were a few traits he found that resonated in him and his whole family; simplicity and refusing to draw any form of attention to themselves. Even Doug remembered at age six, he was able to notice that even his mother who seemed like the type of woman who would throw open arms, even hid herself a bit.

Faith noticed that her brother looked deep in thought and wondered if he was thinking about the Freddy situation. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder, trying to catch his attention.

Almost immediately after, he turned to her and he noticed the confused look on her face.

"You alright, bro?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just been thinking."

"About the Freddy stuff?"

He was silent for a moment before he answered.

"Not exactly," he answered. "The usual. School is tomorrow, the mysteries we have to solve, how we're gonna pull off staying awake with just coffee, and maybe just some we can do to occupy ourselves that'll actually keep us awake."

Faith looked away for a moment, her eyes directed to the floor as she was deep in thought about what Doug told her. She couldn't blame him, knowing that she was in the exact same boat that he was in. She was even positive that Chloe, Mark, Mandy, Donald, and countless others were in the same predicament. After a moment of pondering, she looked up at Doug again.

"I don't blame you," she said at last as she brushed away her raven locks from her face. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what we pretty much found through those articles earlier."

"I don't blame you at all," replied Doug. "It's really a lot to take in."

His sister nodded in agreement before the siblings looked down at their own mugs of coffee, shuddering. Neither of them looked forward to drinking it, but they knew this was their last bet, especially since they would never go for any other energy drinks because they found it too extreme.

"This will certainly turn out well," muttered Doug sarcastically.

"At least looking like a sophisticated guy is the very last thing on your mind in this case," pointed out Faith.

The twenty-year old chuckled at the comment that seemed to poke fun at his own thoughts about coffee. However, he decided to poke fun back at the fifteen-year old.

"You're not even at that age yet," he stated. "And here you are- "

"Shut it," said the raven-haired teen, jokingly pointing her finger to him.

The two laughed a bit, though were careful not to spill any coffee. After a few seconds, they stopped laughing and Faith was quick to bring the porcelain mug closer to her lips. Doug eyed her with surprise.

"You're going ahead already?" he asked.

She nodded. After that, she forced herself to press the mug to her lips despite the smell of the coffee that was unpleasant to her. The steamy liquid touched her tongue and what she found it to be was rather acidic and borderline bitter. She quickly took the cup away from her lips, grimacing at the taste.

"That is hideous," she hissed. "I knew it would be bad, but I didn't expect it to be that bad."

She immediately put her cup down on the small coffee table in front of her, still shuddering at the unpleasant taste of the coffee. She expected and was worried that her brother would laugh at her, but when she turned to face him, he wasn't laughing, though there was the slight amused look on his face. At that point, she decided to let it slide, mostly because she would likely poke a little fun at him if he had a similar reaction to the coffee taste.

"Your turn," she said to him, slightly mockingly.

Doug gave his sister a smirk before preparing himself to repeat the actions that she did earlier, preparing himself to take a sip of the coffee. From the corner of his eye, he saw her eyeing him rather anxiously. Without a moment of hesitation, though he forced himself not to hesitate, he brought the cup to his lips to take a sip. Unsurprisingly to him, he found the taste of the coffee to be rather acidic and bitter. He almost gagged and at the same time, heard quiet giggling. He wasn't surprised that it was Faith laughing at his reaction, but she did for a few moments.

"Well, now we know staying up with this alone is going to be hard," she said at last, gesturing to her cup of coffee.

The older sibling nodded in agreement, sighing as he thought hard about the long night ahead of him and Faith. He was sure that staying up was easier said than done, and he was positive that Faith had the same thought.

He was about to say something else when he stopped himself, remembering about the headache that Faith mentioned she had earlier. While she did tell him earlier it subsided a bit, he still wanted to make sure she was fine since they knew staying pulling an all-nighter could put quite a strain on their minds.

"Is your headache better?" he asked her.

She didn't answer right away, now really paying attention to her headache, which was now barely there, slowly but surely getting better. Now she was glad she had taken the pills, even if she was uneasy about it earlier.

"It's there, but barely, so I'm much better," she replied honestly. "Thanks again for the pills. It helped a lot."

"You're welcome," replied Doug politely. "Just doing what I can to help you, since it hurts me to see you in pain."

Faith smiled again before she spoke again.

"Though I do remember reading somewhere that coffee supposedly makes your headaches better. Odd if you ask me."

"After how we faired with the coffee today," added Doug. "I really don't blame you for saying it's a little odd, but you'll definitely need it for more than just trying to stay awake."

Faith took a deep breath then reluctantly nodded in agreement. The bitter, acidic taste of coffee was still there, but she knew she had to push herself past that if she wanted to stay alive. Despite that, drinking coffee was sounding a lot more daunting than first starting high school last year when she was fourteen. She picked up her cup from the table then held it just inches away from her chest, staring at it blankly for a long moment. Her mind was racing with thoughts about her nightmares and Doug's nightmares. At this moment, she was sure that she could barely go a single moment without a thought on the subject related to either Freddy or the nightmares ringing violently in her head.

Doug eyed her with confusion, noticing her partial pondering and partial anxiety in her eyes. He could tell that she was feeling uneasy about drinking the coffee, even if it was her last resort since both siblings were never fans of those other energy drinks such as Monster, Red Bull, or even 5 Hour Energy. Without asking, he used his free hand to take hers, rubbing it comfort her.

She turned to him then smiled, grateful for his comfort. Then again, she was always grateful for it, considering that she was very close with him and she had been since day one.

His sister smiled then picked up her cup of coffee, forcing herself to take another sip of it despite how much she despised the taste. She shuddered a bit at the taste, but this time, she didn't nearly try to gag. At that point, she figured she was slowly but surely getting used to it.

"I'm already hating that coffee," she stated. "But I guess we'll have to get used to it for a few days."

"True," agreed Doug. "But I guess we're better off with this than that Monster, Red Bull, or hell, even that 5 Hour Energy."

He shuddered at the thought of the three drinks he mentioned. The fifteen-year old though decided to poke a little more fun at him, turning her gaze to him.

"Remember that time when Mom had you try those things when you were nineteen?" she asked, just barely hiding a giggle.

The twenty-year old rolled his eyes amusedly at the said memory then he let out a quiet chortle. He wasn't entirely surprised that his younger sister would bring up the said topic.

"Never again," he chuckled. "That was horrendous. I mean, had those been other things for us during this time, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like it either. And I feel bad for you being I guess an accidental witness when I tasted that nonsense."

"You know me too well," laughed Faith. "But it wasn't too bad. It was funny, even though I feel bad for you for having to taste that stuff."

She turned away for a moment, dropping her amused expression as she grew deep in thought again. Her mind began to think of what could happen tomorrow as far as the meeting with Maggie would go. After that, she turned to her older brother again.

"Hopefully the meeting with Maggie will go well," she said quietly. "Who knows what this could all mean for us and for everyone else having these dreams."

"Perhaps maybe you don't have to speak much to Maggie since you've already written your dreams on paper," he suggested.

However, Faith wasn't listening. She had pulled out her phone then typed Hypnocil on the Google search page, remembering that she and Doug were going to learn some more about the Hypnocil. Not that she was really into researching any kind of medication, which was something she never liked to do much, but because she would have to in just a matter of days, she was worried about potential side effects from taking the medication. This was one major reason why she rarely liked taking medication at all.

Doug almost considered snapping his fingers at his sister, but he noticed the determined and focused look in her eyes that he decided to refrain from interrupting her. Instead, he waited patiently for her to finish what she was doing. He took another sip of coffee and was almost struggling to hide the grimace from his face at the taste.

The raven-haired teen found what appeared to be a short article on Hypnocil. After that, she tapped Doug's shoulder to catch his attention, at the same time positioning her phone to where they could both see the article. He was quick to notice the way her phone was positioned so he looked at the article, he too had similar concerns as she did, though his were not as of a great degree as hers.

 _Hypnocil is a drug that brings dreamless sleep to the user, especially suppressing night terrors._

 _FDA CLASSIFICATION/HISTORY: In 1987, Hypnocil was classified as an experimental drug to manage psychotic disorders, allowing for dreamless sleep and an optional suppression of night terrors. However, it was not approved, but this didn't stop several kids in Springwood, Ohio from getting to it from Westin Hills in the year of 2005, when it was learned that it could suppress the nightmares. As of 2017, the information of the drug's FDA status remains rather quiet, rumors speculating that it is approved, others speculate that it is not approved, and even fewer speculate that it is approved under one condition; it is to be of use only for suppression of night terrors and with strict instruction. Westin Hills remains the only hospital distributing the drug._

The siblings widened their eyes in surprise as they read this information. The one thing that caught them by surprise was that the status of an FDA approval for it remained quiet, say for a few rumors. While they were anxious to get it to suppress their nightmares, they were also skeptical, as the information seemed to show a rather sketchy history behind it. Whatever hope they had seemed to fall by a sliver, as they were often paranoid about taking any medication that was heavier than usual.

"FDA status quiet?" muttered Doug, trying to process this information in his head.

"I don't like the sound of this," said Faith, less than reassured by the information.

She looked down, noticing that there was more information on the drug. She immediately tapped her older brother on the shoulder to catch his attention, gesturing to him to read the remaining information.

 _Warning side effects: may bring addiction, hallucinations, increase of blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke or death if not properly use. Do not give to children under the age 13 years old or to women that may be or become pregnant._

"Huh, this is about to be as fun as those random drug commercials," said Faith sarcastically.

"Well, as long as we're careful, I guess we should be okay," said Doug calmly, still looking through the information carefully.

Faith nodded in agreement, but another thought rang in her head, one that could help them from being incredibly reliant on the pill, and to also connect the information she learned about Freddy's spreading influence. She had devised a plan in her head.

"We'll make a deal," she said as she tossed her phone on the table in front of her. "If any of us were to move out of Springwood, I highly doubt we would need the pill since we're trying to keep him contained here until we can destroy him."

"I agree," replied Doug, turning to Faith. "Though we should bring it up to Mom. And also, once this is all said and done, it'd be best for us to never speak of him, unless if someone decides to foolishly speak of him and we'd be one of the few to help out, if we make it out alive from this."

"Hopefully we can make it out alive from this," she said, trying to sound hopeful.

He leaned back against his seat in deep thought as he tried to piece the entire connection, even though he knew that there was more to the whole situation than meets the eye. The information of the Hypnocil, plus the information on Freddy were a lot more connected than he realized, especially taking Faith's words of not needing to take the pill if they were staying out of Springwood for a bit at least into mind. Despite his concern, this allowed him to grasp a new sense of determination.

"We will survive this," he said in a very forthright tone. "Not just for ourselves, but for everyone here."

Faith gave him a small but defined smile, showing that she did agree with him, even though she wasn't entirely as hopeful as he was, and he usually wasn't too optimistic about things. She wasn't ready to be too optimistic, but she didn't want to be too pessimistic either.

She then turned away from him, eyes looking down at her cup of coffee and dropping her smile as her mind began to race from the information, she learned about the Hypnocil, enough to leave an icy chill down her spine. As a result, she shivered slightly, prompting her to take another sip of coffee. However, the chill she had didn't exactly go away.

Doug noticed that his sister seemed to be a little cold, though he found this rather odd since it was summer. However, being the caring big brother he was, he placed his cup down on the table then turned to a nearby blanket. He took it then wrapped it around the teen, hoping this would help her.

She looked up at him, giving him another smile as a silent "thank you" to him, then he nodded back as a silent "you're welcome" to her, the two considered themselves and each other exceptional at silent communication. While she never told him that she was uneasy about the entire situation, she was thankful that he was trying to do what he could to comfort her.

"So now what?" she asked.

The young man said nothing for a moment, pondering on what he could say. While he thought it would be a good idea to take at least an hour to maybe talk about something else but at the same time, it seemed to him that she wasn't exactly feeling compelled to shift the subject. He couldn't blame her, as their entire day of hell from the dreams had put a strain their sanities, and being daydreamers made their situation that much more troubling.

"Maybe tomorrow won't be so crazy as far as us having dreams," he said at last.

"I wouldn't speak so soon," warned Faith. "Springwood seems to already be as unpredictable with this stuff. Everything so far seems so connected."

"You're starting to sound like a detective."

"You think?" She eyed him with somewhat curiosity at the comment.

"Just a thought," he said.

"Oh."

Doug turned to the wall beside him, now in deep thought as he tried to think of something else to talk about. Everything around him fell silent for a long moment until he found his silence interrupted.

 _TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!_

Faith took another sip of coffee, pondering what to say next. She shifted a bit in her seat before placing her cup down.

"Are you expecting to hear more information on the Freddy thing at school tomorrow?" she asked.

Much to her surprise, Doug did not answer at all. Instead, she saw his eyes seemed to be directed to the wall on his right. His eyes looked unfocused and instead, almost in a dream-like look.

"Doug?" She tried to catch his attention, though she didn't want to shake him as she was far too polite to do that.

Once again, her older brother did not answer, and his position and expression didn't change.

"Dammit," she hissed at the moment she realized what was going on. "I'll have to keep an eye on you since you're daydreaming again."

Without another word, she turned to him then began to gently rub his arm, anxious as now, she was tasked to keep an eye on him if he were to have any trouble getting back into reality. Perhaps, she saw this a test for when he would go to sleep and she would have to keep watch for him. As tired as she was, she refused to go to sleep.

Sighing, she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to keep her eyes open before keeping her eye on her daydreaming brother. That was when everything around her went silent, and what was about to come was nothing what she expected nor what she welcomed.

 _SCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

 **...**

 **Hey guys! I know it's been a while since I last did an author's note. Reason's been that I never really had much to say. However, there are some things I'd like to mention and clear up about.**

 **Thank you for your constructive criticism! I try the hardest I can, as the dream sequences seem to be where the biggest problems lie as far as my descriptions. Despite that, I really love writing the dream sequences! They're probably one of my favorite scenes to write in this story, and I always imagine them in my head. I'm not even lying. I already have several later scenes to this story in my head, and I'm almost borderline impatient to begin writing them, and I already begin writing them in my head.**

 **Jake's death scene was an inspiration from Tina's death in the original, and there might be some more dream sequences that might have a similar thing, maybe even some outside of ANOES, but who knows?**

 **Next thing, I'll clear things up on Maggie's age. She's fifty-six-years old in this story, I did the math. Hopefully that cleared things up since yes, this story takes place almost two decades after Freddy's Dead, summer of 2017 is the exact timeline for this story. I won't say much else, or else I'd be spoiling stuff, lol.**

 **Next thing, this story for me is probably one of my all-time favorite ones to write. Tackling a horror movie fanfiction was something I never considered in the beginning, but after watching the originals and seeing plenty of the clips from the sequels and the remake (though I won't dwell too much on a lot of strange stuff in the later movies, I mean 4-6, apart from Maggie), I decided for this to be my first horror movie project (don't mention my two Until Dawn stories, Until Dawn is a game, lol), and while yes, the earlier chapters were a little clunky and long before I tried to mature my writing, this is coming quite nicely. Hopefully it'll get better from here and such.**

 **Also, I may consider changing up the description to the story a little bit (probably doing the same for Creeper, since I'm mostly gonna revolve the story on the twins rather than just Brittany), since I've taken notice that the story seems to revolve around Faith AND Doug rather than just Faith, and that'll more likely continue on. I could say one more thing regarding Doug, but I will not because it'll spoil what could potentially happen with him later on. I ain't gonna spoil his fate, y'all. That would be incredibly uncool on my part.**

 **I will admit, I really loved writing Doug's character, though I try to not make him the overprotective older brother than most Wattpad older brothers do, especially when it's done without reason. I try to make Doug the caring and protective big brother but making him overprotective is too much. I've seen overprotective big brothers in other stories and the results can be quite hilarious.**

 **Finally, I have a bit of a confession to make regarding Faith's character. I will admit, Faith's character is like my own author-insert, though I try to NOT put her character in the level of laughable like Bella Swan. I like Twilight, but I can make fun of it too.**

 **Anyway, don't expect another author's note unless if I absolutely have to put one down. And also, if you want to take any wild guesses on who may die later in the story and/or who'll survive in the end and you'd like to put it in the comments or something, please feel free to do so! I'll be intrigued to see what your answers may be, even if I've already planned out who'll live and who'll die. That's all I have to say. Thanks guys!**

 **-ReconditeAgony**


	22. Playmates

Enraged was far too light of a word he could describe what he was feeling after failing to kill Donald. Every word he could think of was far too light to use exactly the kind of anger he had surging through himself. He was close, ready to strike at the terrified young man, but of course he had to wake up and leave the dream realm.

Since Freddy Krueger's rebirth earlier this month, which not many knew about, he managed four kills and took their souls. However, that didn't mean he was satisfied. He knew there were more kids out there with knowledge of him who he wanted to get, at least use them as warning for his favorite targets, those Knight kids. It was all because of that damn woman from years ago, being one of those who tried to go after him.

However, several thoughts ran through his head, causing the anger from his expression to be dropped and then replaced by a thoughtful expression on his face. His blackened eyes looked down at the pipe he had his blade on as he took a moment to reflect on how proud he was to feel right at home and finding a new major target who he enjoyed almost as much as Nancy.

Since Nancy, he had found a new pleasure in the form of Faith. Both girls were so similar, yet so different too. Both were resilient, not backing down so easily, and both equally beautiful in his own twisted way, enough to amuse him. However, while Nancy easily had that girl-next-door look, Faith was nothing like that-

 _You killed Nancy thirty years ago_ , thought the dream demon. _Nancy was your favorite, but your new favorite is Faith. It's time for you to continue to target the raven-haired girl, along with her brother._

Doug though was a very special case for reasons Freddy couldn't quite put his blade on, even as he scratched it against the pipe, causing sparks to form. Freddy found Doug to be an interesting fellow, especially when berating him for trying to torture his sister. Even as quite tall and buff Doug was, that meant nothing to Freddy, for as he always made himself the bigger one since in this world, he played by his own rules.

He continued to scratch his bladed finger against the pipe, though harder than before, the sparks still flying around as he continued to think about his two current favorite targets; Doug and Faith. Not once had he ever enjoyed two targets almost as equally, especially siblings. Not even Alice and her older brother Rick has this kind of thing, at least from what Freddy was aware of.

The dream demon found this rather strange since Doug and Faith weren't even twins nor even close to being twins, but they were five years apart. Doug was twenty while Faith was fifteen. However, Freddy decided that the age difference between the siblings meant nothing.

Freddy tried to come up with reasons in his head as to why he seemed to find near equal enjoyment in toying with Doug and Faith. Perhaps maybe their closeness was nearly impenetrable, possibly carrying a link that neither one had taken notice of yet. Maybe it was that he had gone so long without fresh meat and then after a few weeks since his return, seeing Doug and Faith for the first time had been nothing but a sick pleasure for them, more than the other recent people he came across. Maybe it was because he came across an aura around the siblings that it was impossible to ignore, though it was an aura that had him craving to play his heinous games with them.

However, there was one main thing that mattered to the dream demon at all. It was that Doug and Faith were indeed his favorite playmates. He enjoyed injuring them, enjoyed hearing their reactions to his handiwork on them, enjoyed their agonized expressions, enjoyed tormenting them in general. He enjoyed taunting them for different reasons, Doug for his devotion to protecting his sister, and Faith for her name.

He stopped scratching the pipe before he began to tap the sharp end of the blade against the pipe.

 _TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!_

"What the heck?"

Freddy looked up into the ceiling, recognizing the male voice, quietly chuckling as he prepared himself to start his usual act. His lips curled into twisted, sadistic smile, now ready to play his usual games and readying his playground for one of his two favorite targets.

 _This is gonna be fun, Douglas. Hope you're ready. And if your sister is around, I hope she's ready too._

 **...**

 **Hey guys! I know I've been updating this story quite a bit lately, but it's so darn exciting to write. I'm not abandoning my other works, though.**

 **And yes, I did change the bio, since I pretty much went on to revolve the story around Faith AND Doug. Plus, I really love writing their sibling bond, which will play a huge role later in the story. Their sibling bond is honestly one of my top favorite things to write in this story, besides the dream sequences.**

 **I know this is a shorter chapter than usual. I originally wasn't going to have a Freddy-centered or Freddy-centric chapter until I decided otherwise. At the same time, I was working on another chapter which I hoped to have up today, but it's taking me a little longer to write it. Plus, I figured why not take an opportunity to visit Freddy in his own perspective. This really should be fun.**

 **I apologize if this chapter is a little clunky. As I'm posting this, it's my birthday (I'm 23) and I wanted to post something for this day, and this is super last minute, lmao. Pardon me, lol!**

 **And if you guys remembered those mentioned deaths of the first three teens before Jake's death, at least one of them will play a major role in the story. Be on the lookout for them!**

 **And if you remember that scene when Doug and Faith saw the address number of their house change, that will also play a huge role in this story.**

 **Next, thank you guys very much for your comments and constructive criticisms! They might be part of the reason why I've been updating this story quite a bit lately, even when I've had ideas for this story swimming in my head like crazy for the past several months. I won't mention them though, as it will spoil what could happen which I would hate to do to you guys.**

 **Also, interesting note, I originally was not going to have any old characters return in this story at all, let alone Maggie. However, I did put some thought into it and decided otherwise. Luckily, the role I have chosen for Maggie might be a good one, though I won't give any hints or else I'll end up spoiling stuff.**

 **Also, if you're wondering if someone else will die soon, I can only say maybe. If you want to take any guesses on who may die next, please feel free to mention it! It would be really intriguing to see what you guys may think. Same goes for if you want to make guesses on who'll survive Freddy's massacre, I would love to hear what you have to say!**

 **Thanks again guys!**

 **-ReconditeAgony**


	23. Menace

Doug looked around him, having no idea where the tapping was coming from. At first, he thought he was having a hallucination, but he was beginning to tell himself in his head that he should know better. He was never very naive and never liked being naive very much, on top of that, remembering the wise words from his father that he learned when he was barely thirteen.

 _Even when you're looking for something and/or no matter how brave you are, keep your suspicions high because you never know what could be out there for you._

Doug took those words very much to mind, not much to heart though since he always preferred to follow his mind rather than his heart. That was what spared him from the worst of his heartache after his ex-girlfriend from high school cheated on him, even though he was incredibly heartbroken. That memory that would forever haunt him became the turning point for him taking his father's advice to a new level, having instead straying away from having romantic relationships and kept his main social focus on his friends and especially family, it was that fear of losing someone, whether if that person had betrayed him or had died that lingered deeply through his mind

He began to tap his left foot on the carpet anxiously, unsure how much time had passed. He would have checked his phone but that never crossed his mind since he left his phone to charge in his room. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes, trying to keep his eyes as open as possible, even though he was greatly craving sleep.

He turned to Faith who looked to be staring at the wall across from her, her eyes full of focus, as if she wasn't taking notice of him. A sense of dread began to build up inside the elder brother, worried that his younger sister was probably daydreaming, but before he could do something-

 _SCCRRRRRRRREREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

The twenty-year old jumped at the sound, now realizing he had to put his whole focus on what could be disturbing him, as in, he would investigate the situation himself, even if it was all too suspicious to him. He felt bad for leaving Faith alone, but he told himself that maybe, she was safe, or he would be risking his own safety to ensure hers.

He got up from the couch before making his way to the stairs, as he was almost positive that maybe, the sound was coming from downstairs. Well, he found it better to come from downstairs than upstairs.

However, for good measure and having no desire to turn on any lights in the house that could wake up his parents, he turned to the small table across from the stairs. On it stood two flashlights, one colored black and the other colored blue.

Perfect, thought Doug as he quickly snatched the black flashlight from the table.

He turned it on then headed downstairs, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible, which wasn't exactly too hard for him. This was already reminding him of how quite good he was at being stealthy, especially after playing hide and seek with a twist when the hider would find a new place to hide. He did this a lot when he was younger, and others often had a hard time looking for him. He gave a quiet chuckle at the memory as he continued down the stairs.

 _One, two, Freddy's coming for you_

 _Three, four, better lock your door_

 _Five, six, grab your crucifix_

 _Seven, eight, better stay up late_

 _Nine, ten, never sleep again_

Doug stopped at the bottom of the stairs, raising his eyebrows in surprise when he heard what sounded like children singing, followed by their laughter. What surprised him even more was that he could remember the song very clearly and vividly. It was the same words he remembered seeing on paper after Faith wrote down what she heard in her daydream at the bookstore earlier that morning. Only now, this was his first time hearing it for himself, and hearing it became unsettling for him.

The words continuously replaying, only getting louder as Doug continued down the hall, keeping a tight hold on his flashlight, shining it around him just to be sure he wasn't being followed by something. Even though he wasn't scared of the dark, he kept as cautious as possible.

"This is going to be fun," he muttered to himself as he continued.

— — — — —

 _SCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

The sound managed to startle Faith as she took off the blanket that Doug put around her earlier, tossing it beside her on the couch. While she wasn't entirely sure where it came from, she knew that finding the source of it may be her best bet. Only the noise was suspicious, but the whole area around her was normal, at least she hoped it was.

She stood up from her seat, turning behind her just to make sure her older brother was still there. However, much to her surprise, Doug was not at the couch. This puzzled the girl, though at first taking it as maybe he was taking care of something, but ever since she and her family moved to Springwood, things had become suspicious.

Sighing, she turned away from the couch then began to slowly walk down the hall just when a new sound cued up, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

 _One, two, Freddy's coming for you_

 _Three, four, better lock your door_

 _Five, six, grab your crucifix_

 _Seven, eight, better stay up late_

 _Nine, ten, never sleep again_

The raven-haired teen recognized the song, being the same one she heard this morning at the bookstore during her daydream. However, unlike this morning when the children singing sounded like they had no accompaniment with them, this time, there was a piano accompaniment with them, but the piano sounded distorted, butchered, and haunted in nature.

Faith had heard enough music and had taken enough music theory to determine that the accompaniment was off, though she grew suspicious about the piano's tone sounding so off was done on purpose, as if whoever was playing the song was meant to taunt her. She recognized the singing itself was in the key of C minor, but the piano sounded like it was at least half between a B minor and C minor. Not to mention the piano itself sounded like it was trying to reach the exact key the children were singing in but couldn't quite get there. The entire sound of it and analyzing its tone sent an uneasy wave in the girl's stomach.

The song continued playing without a sign of stopping, only getting louder every second. The fifteen-year old continued forward, stopping by the small table by the stairs to see one lone flashlight, a blue one. She didn't give herself enough time to be suspicious as she grabbed the flashlight then turned it on, hoping this could lessen the building fear she was beginning to have, especially since she was quite scared of the dark.

Not once did she speak, but she decided to look in her room and Doug's room to try to find the source of where the haunting song was coming from. She first tried her own room, the song's volume lowered by just a sliver, though she wasn't convinced. She shined her flashlight everywhere in her room as she looked around for the source, but there was nothing. Sighing, she left her room then headed for Doug's room, wondering if the song was coming from there. Like before, she shined her flashlight everywhere and looked around, though she was more careful as she didn't want to make a mess in her brother's room, but she ended up with nothing.

"Oh great," she groaned as she left Doug's room, then the song's volume grew louder than before.

The suspicious state of mind she had was greatly increasing, and she was beginning to truly believe the only reason why the song kept playing in the same way because it was truly meant to taunt her. The thought sent a violent wave of chills in her body, causing her to shiver slightly, as well as it caused the uneasiness settling at the pit of her stomach to become more prominent, but she refused to let any of those things stop her. Instead, she grew more determined to find the source of where the singing was coming from.

— — — — —

Things got incredibly stranger and more terrifying to Doug when he noticed an unnerving shift change in the song. The children were now accompanied by what he thought sounded like a piano, but one that was so close to reaching the key the children were singing, but not quite there. Not to mention how the tone abruptly shifted to become far more haunting and even butchered.

While the twenty-year old wasn't as knowledgeable of the technical music terms as his younger sister was, he was still able to make out that the way the song was played and sung was more than just a warning. It didn't take him long to figure out that the entire way of how it was played was to taunt someone, only he wasn't the one being taunted. He began to have a feeling that he wasn't alone, and it wasn't just the obvious, though he didn't want to take any guesses as to who. He was about to turn behind him to see if he was being followed when an unknown force pushed him to the nearby window to the front yard, headfirst slamming against the blinds. He gasped from the impact, but he had no time to try to recover because with the way he was being toyed with, it could only mean that whoever his manipulator was wanted him to see something.

Hesitantly, Doug opened the blinds to reveal something he had never seen before. What he saw were four girls out at the front of the yard. Two girls were swinging what appeared to be a white jump rope for the other girl who was jumping it. Not far from there, there was another girl sitting on an old wooden piano bench, playing an old classical grand piano. He could see that the piano itself looked like it had been scratched, graffitied on, and several parts of the wood was entirely broken, giving off a worn look. However, none of the horrid-looking decorations appeared to be by the works of a normal person willing to pull this stuff off.

The young man was so startled by how much the scene haunted him that he recoiled his hand away from the blinds then quickly backing up. He was scared that he barely paid attention to where he was going when he thought he stepped on something, only quickly realizing that someone was behind him. The gasp from behind him was enough to tell him that it wasn't who he feared it was. He turned behind him, noticing the wavy black hair, even in the dark.

It was Faith who looked as equally as surprised as he did.

Doug hung his head in shame before hugging his sister, already regretting not looking back behind him even when the sight he saw earlier scared him. He always hated himself for bumping into her, especially like that, even if it was by accident.

"Oh dammit!" he hissed. "Faith, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were behind me."

"Dude, you're fine," said Faith, though she returned the hug to him. "Whatever you saw must've spooked the hell out of you, so I'm not going to blame you."

"I thought I was the one to do the reassuring," he protested.

"Let me return the favor, you idiot," she said, the last part meant to be slightly joking, but her tone was firm.

The siblings let each other go, both taking a few moments to themselves to process what happened. Faith has just come downstairs when she saw Doug open the blinds for only a few seconds when she took notice that whatever he saw startled him enough that he had accidentally bumped into her. She felt sorry for him for having to witness whatever he saw.

"Let me ask you one thing," said Faith. "What did you see?"

Doug froze in place, at first unsure if he even wanted to tell her exactly what he saw, given that she was scared more easily than he was. However, he knew that he had to tell her the truth whether if it scared her or not. It was no use trying to hide anything from her, knowing she knew him more than anyone else in his life.

He didn't say a word, but he gestured to the window that he looked through earlier, asking her to take a look for herself as he knew it would be best for her to see exactly what he saw. She walked to the window without question then looked through, seeing four girls, three playing jump rope while the other was playing an awfully old piano on the grass of their front yard. While she did see the three girls from her daydream at the bookstore, the girl at the piano was something entirely new to her. Her eyes widened with shock, finding the scene in front of her to be more than just meeting the eye, the thought sending even more uneasy waves in her stomach, but she swallowed hard to force back vomit.

"Do you see it?" came the voice of her brother.

Though he didn't specify what he meant, she knew exactly what he meant as she took a step away, shutting the blinds as she didn't want to look at what was out there any further. She turned to him, the agonized and haunted look in her eyes were very prominent.

"I did," she replied. "I hear it too."

The brunette took his sister's hand, squeezing it to comfort her as he knew that despite hearing the almost dead tone in her voice, she was scared. She gave him a tiny smile, acknowledging his comfort like she always did.

"Why don't we check to see what's going on," he suggested. "Something strange is happening here."

Right after he said that, the children singing, and the piano playing stopped playing completely. It was now completely silent, though the siblings figured it to be a blessing in disguise.

"I agree," said Faith quietly. "And we'll stand with each other."

The siblings let go of each other then turned off their flashlights, placing them on the counter close to them. They turned to each other then took each other's hand again, this time, taking a moment to embrace each other before carrying on with their mission. Despite their big height difference, that didn't matter to them. Doug leaned down just a little bit, enough so that he made himself look at least six inches taller than Faith. Their faces were now inches apart and the only thing they heard was quiet breathing from themselves and each other.

Unknown to them, a shadow had appeared in the darkness, though the figure was quiet as possible, as if not wanting to disturb what could be going on.

Before they knew it, the siblings gently pressed their foreheads against each other, sharing one of their deepest intimate sibling moments that they often shared in a moment of either good luck or to be careful for over ten years. All feelings of suspicion and fear while hadn't gone away completely, was now barely there. Their focus was currently on each other, silently telling the other to be careful on their mission, as silent communication was always one of their strongest points in their close bond. It seemed that they were still in their current position for a long while, but that didn't bother them, nor did it matter one bit.

"Hello Douglas, hello Faith. What a sweet moment."

The siblings jumped when they heard a familiar dark sounding voice. They pulled away from each other then turned when they saw the familiar face of Freddy Krueger, his fedora tilted slightly downward as he took a step closer to them. A laugh erupted from his throat as his lips stretched into a twisted smile, causing an icy chill to hit the siblings all over.

Doug, who still had hold of his sister's hand, was quick to move her behind him, determined to protect her from the horrible-looking man. As far as he was concerned, he refused to let anyone like Freddy Krueger lay a hand on Faith.

Freddy laughed at what he saw was so sweet, such untouchable sibling love. He had been observing the intimate sibling embrace for a long moment, amused by the sight of it, though had chosen to say nothing until he felt it was the right moment to do so. However, he saw that it wasn't just the younger man protecting the girl.

"Aww, how sweet," he cooed. "Big brother protecting his little sister. What adorable sibling love, isn't it? Very close, maybe a little too close."

Despite their horror, the siblings gave the dream demon a confused look, neither of them speaking. Neither sibling wanted to take any guesses on what the dream demon meant even though they knew he more than the obvious.

"You managed to be in the same dream," explained Freddy. "How amusing. Two daydreamers in the same daydream, this will be a lot of fun."

Doug and Faith turned to each other, shocked by the realization. The horror on their faces told each other one thing, get away from Freddy. Without a moment of hesitation, they turned away from Freddy as they ran away from him, the closest place they decided to hide was to lock themselves in the garage.

Unknown to them, Freddy ran in following pursuit of the siblings, though he was faster. Oh, how he looked forward to continue playing his games with them and having no remorse over his handy work.

Doug quickly unlocked the garage door as he ran in, Faith close behind him. However, they stopped when they saw that instead of the garage, they were in a huge boiler room. Faith swallowed hard as memories of her first nightmare of Freddy began to ring violently in her head.

"Oh god," she panted, shuddering. "It's his favorite playground. This was where he murdered twenty kids in the nineteen sixties and where he was burned to death in the seventies."

Doug could feel his blood running cold when he heard Faith mention this place. Never once had he stumbled across this place in his dreams, but now, seeing it for himself brought nothing but profound dread. He scanned his eyes around the place, seeing steam hissing from the boilers and the air around him was incredibly hot. The only thing cold about this place was the cold metal catwalk under his bare feet.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard laughter erupting in the air. Scared for himself and worried for his sister's safety, he took her hand as they slowly backed up a few steps.

"It's been twelve years since I last played with fresh meat," came the voice of Freddy Krueger as the siblings saw his shadow on the pipes, soon after presenting himself as he took a step closer to them. "Ever since- "

He stopped in place, gritting his teeth then inched his face closer to the siblings. Anger deeper through him as he prepared to say the one thing that angered him greatly since starting his new life.

"I was forgotten again!" he snapped through gritted teeth, anger dripping in his voice. "That bitch Lori! Being dead didn't hurt, being forgotten did- "

"But someone brought you back," said Faith, peering her head slightly past Doug's shoulder.

The dream demon's lips curled into the most horrific smile the siblings had ever seen. Doug still stayed in front, trying to protect his sister from Freddy as they kept their eyes locked with his; Freddy's black eyes, Doug's hazel eyes, and Faith's blue eyes.

"Yes, Faith Natalia Knight," purred Freddy. "You and Douglas Thomas Knight must have found a lot, but I'm done talking for now. I want to play."

Before either sibling could react, Freddy pulled Faith away from behind Doug, throwing her against the pipes. Faith fell to the floor, feeling a dull ache in her ribs. She rolled to her back, wrapping an arm around her torso, trying to relieve the pain as she turned her gaze to Krueger, angry.

"This is for all the crap you did," she seethed as she quickly sat up then got up to her feet, now running to the dream demon, though she was still having the ache in her ribs.

She was about to tackle him down to the ground, but he caught her by the throat, slowly squeezing the life out of her. She struggled against his grip when she turned to see Doug trying to attack Freddy.

"Let her go, you asshole!" yelled Doug.

Freddy laughed again as he turned to Doug, amused by the young man's words calling for him to let go of the girl he was still holding by the throat. Without a word, he tossed Faith against the pipes, she hit back first before dropping on the catwalk, coughing after having the air nearly sucked out of her.

Scared, Doug rushed by Faith's side, trying to comfort her and tried to help her calm down after trying to but failing to get Freddy to let go of her.

After Faith stopped coughing, Doug got up on his feet, eyes directed at Freddy, anger seeping through his veins, but he kept himself calm and collected as he walked towards Freddy. Even as angry as he was on the inside, on the outside, he kept himself as calm as possible.

"This is for murdering twenty kids in the sixties and then attacking and murdering countless kids," he snapped.

With as much strength as he could muster, the twenty-year old shoved the dream demon back against the pipes, hoping to put the latter in his own place. After hitting the pipes, Freddy just laughed, having no remorse over his past actions.

"You amuse me, Doug," he said. "Perhaps I should show you and your sister exactly who I used to be before your goddamn grandmother and others did this to me."

The siblings remained silent as they watched Freddy grab the tip of his fedora. He took it off then used it to cover his face as he pulled it down. After that, instead of the burnt face the siblings had seen before, they were met with a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. His green eyes gazed at the siblings, quickly brushing his blonde hair with his blades. However, the only thing that didn't change was the twisted, sadistic smile on his face.

Doug and Faith were in stunned silence at they took a careful glance at this man, the one who their mother mentioned had murdered twenty kids years ago. Faith stood up, walking closer to the human-faced dream demon, anger glinting in her blue eyes.

"So that's what you are," she said, barely able to contain the horror in her voice.

Doug couldn't speak, finding it incredibly shocking to see the man behind the burnt monster. He knew the story but seeing the true face of a child murderer in person was a lot more terrifying to him than before. What made this even more shocking was that he remembered his mother telling the story that his grandmother was indeed one of the angry parents who ran after Krueger after hearing stories of Krueger killing children. All he could muster was a gasp of horror, but that wasn't long before Faith spoke.

"That's the face of the monster who murdered twenty kids!" yelled Faith, shoving Krueger against the pipes. "And you've murdered almost fifty kids since then!"

Freddy turned away from the siblings for a moment, repeating his actions by covering his face and letting the hat pass it. After that, he turned to the siblings, his face now back to its burnt state.

"I've shown you enough," he said angrily. "Now it's time for me to do more!"

He ran for the siblings, first using his glove to finger-knife slash Faith on the arm then forcefully pushed Doug against the pipes, causing the younger man to hit back first against the pipe. Faith gasped at stingy pain on her arm while Doug groaned from the impact of hitting the pipe, the dazed feeling had managed to catch him off guard for a long moment as he tried to recover.

Freddy laughed again at the injured siblings, clearly having a little too much enjoyment as he quickly lunged towards Faith, once again throwing her against the pipe, she hit back first against it. The sound of her gasp and groan from the hit put a smile on Krueger's face as he slowly walked towards her, waving his bladed hand at her.

"Aww, poor little Faith, what a wretch am I to hurt her," he cooed mockingly.

Faith felt her stomach turn at the words, having learned and read the story from where she got her name from, she knew Freddy was once again taunting her with the references. She turned her head away, trying to escape, but Freddy was faster as he got hold of her by the wrist as he laughed again, enjoying his victim's suffering.

"No!" hissed Faith. "Don't you dare!"

Freddy's dark, twisted, sadistic laugh rung in the air as he inched his face closer to Faith's, so close to the point that she could feel his hot, rotten breath in her face. She shuddered, still trying to escape from his grasp, but he wouldn't let her.

"Your mouth says no, but your mind says yes," taunted Freddy.

He traced his finger blade from Faith's cheek to her waist. He traced it up again, this time tracing it on her skin, under her shirt. The twisted smile of his only grew bigger as he continued to trace his blade on her skin.

Faith shuddered at the sensation of the cold blade making contact with her skin. She wanted to badly find a way to escape, but Freddy forced her down and forcing her to endure his near sexual pleasure with her. Her mind was racing, though her thoughts turned to when she remembered hearing about a rumor about Freddy being a child molester. She knew that in actuality, he never molested children, but that meant nothing at this point. He had her where he wanted her and at that very moment, she was sure she would die, and the thought greatly saddened her.

Freddy's blades had made their way to the girl's bra, eyes glinting with interest. He was now ready for the next step, to tear it open, thirsting for more of her.

"This meat looks more interesting than Layla," he chuckled. "That's thick meat. Ha!"

Faith tried to turn away and escape once again, but it was no use. The dream demon wasn't ready to let her go, knowing the very reason he had done his test on Donald, so that he could repeat the same actions to Faith, and perhaps maybe to Doug. However, he had his attention to Faith, first lifting up her shirt then carefully traced the tip of his bladed finger on her stomach, smiling and laughing as he did so.

After having recovered from the nasty hit earlier, Doug slowly got back to his feet, only to see a sight he wished he could unsee, and one he knew would be engraved in his sister's mind. To say the least, he was angry, angry at Krueger. By his left, he noticed an old, long pipe leaning against the railing of the catwalk. He didn't hesitate to take it, knowing he had to save Faith before she could be killed by Freddy. He walked up behind Krueger, positioning the pipe, which was somewhat heavier than he thought, though had he not buffed up since he was fifteen, the pipe would have been very heavy to him. Nevertheless, he was readying himself to hit Krueger for laying his hands on the raven-haired teen.

Freddy placed his gloved hand on Faith's stomach as he leaned in closer to her, the twisted smile never left his face. He was enjoying this a little too much, but that didn't matter, nor did he have remorse for hurting her.

"I'm your Goodman Brown," he said softly, trying to sound seductive, but Faith shook her head, not buying his words at all.

"Fuck you, Krueger!" shouted Doug angrily as he hit Krueger on the back with the pipe with as much strength as he would muster.

Freddy cried out in surprise as he tried to find the culprit behind the hit. He turned to see his attacker holding a long, rusted pipe, angry.

"You shouldn't have messed with my fun, Douglas," he sneered.

Doug didn't care if he was going to be next to suffer from Freddy's wrath. He was angry that he saw Freddy nearly succeed in his sexual pleasure with Faith. He was sick to his stomach after having witness such a horrific event, and he wasn't going to let Freddy get away that easily.

"You shouldn't have laid your hands on my sister!" he shouted angrily.

He tackled Freddy to the ground as Faith tried to recover from the disgusting act of Freddy. She couldn't believe she was forced to endure it and knowing that she had to go to sleep in a matter of hours, she greatly dreaded having this sort of event happening again. From the corner of her eye, she saw Doug in a scuffle with the dream demon. Without an ounce of hesitation, she ran after them, helping her brother fight Freddy. She tried to tear a piece of his sweater, but the demon took notice of her actions as he threw her against the pipes once again as she hit ribs first against them. The dull ache in her ribs returned, worse than before.

Not long after, Freddy tossed Doug against the pipes, next to Faith, the younger man groaning from the impact of the hit. The delighted laugh that erupted from the demon's lips caused both siblings to shudder. They sat up then turned to each other, wondering what plan they could come up with. They knew that they wouldn't last much longer against Freddy, so they had to do something quick before one of them could be killed.

However, before they could carry on with what they were about to do, a ringing of someone's phone sounded on, snapping the siblings out of the dream world and then back to reality. They were both still sitting on the couch and their mugs of coffee were still on the table in front of them. Both gasped before sighing in relief that they were no longer in the world where Freddy had taunted them in. Outside of their own breathing, silence filled the air before one sibling spoke.

"Oh god!"

 **...**

 **Hey guys! The daydream scene was one of the scenes I had playing in my head even before I got a chance to actually write it.**

 **Next thing, I was back and forth toying with the thought of either having this chapter be the only one when Doug and Faith end up in the same dream or having it happen multiple times, but after some thinking, considering how I'm portraying Doug and Faith's close sibling relationship, there will be more scenes of them in the same dream.**

 **And that sibling moment of Doug and Faith embracing each other before being interrupted by Freddy was an inspiration from Endgame in that Vormir scene with Clint and Natasha. There may be a good chance you'll see more of those scenes in the story.**

 **And yes, I was made aware that I should mention more of Freddy's abilities and that. And yes, I will, but I don't want to pile them on so quickly and so soon. However, I'll take that into consideration, and I appreciate the suggestion. :)**

 **And yes, I remember reading on the wiki that it was implied that Freddy was a child molester. While I view OG Freddy as simply a child murderer, I want to throw those hints, though I'm trying to write it in a way that'll be as PG-13 as possible since I have no plans on writing any stories rated M or higher anytime soon.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, guys!**

 **-ReconditeAgony**


	24. Reopening Wounds

Faith turned to Doug, confused as to why she heard him say "oh god" in a worried manner. He held up her arm as she took a good long look at the three cuts on her arm, now understanding why he sounded worried. She remembered the stinging pain she received, courtesy of Freddy Krueger. However, seeing it oozing out blood and the deepness of the wounds were deeper than she thought.

"Oh gosh!" she gasped. "That's not good at all."

She quickly adjusted herself in her seat when the dull, aching pain in her ribs from her daydream cued up again. She gasped as she used her uninjured arm to wrap around her torso, trying to relieve the pain while clenching her teeth to stifle a groan. It was one thing to have injuries like cuts be carried into the real world from the dream world. However, injuries like aching ribs was on a whole new level.

Doug was quick to notice as he placed a hand on her shoulder, eyes wide with concern. He had seen Freddy toss the girl to the pipes, though it scared him that seeing her reaction seemed to show that the impact must've hurt her that bad. Not to mention that it was enough to be carried into the real world.

"Does it hurt that bad?" he asked, tone full of worry.

"No," replied the raven-haired teen, though her voice was slightly wheezy. "Aching ribs."

The twenty-year old immediately got up from his seat then left the upstairs common room without a word in a search to get the medical supplies. He knew Freddy had given Faith the cuts and he was positive Freddy was also responsible for giving her aching ribs. He was worried that she may have to go to the hospital because of her aching ribs. All in all, he was angry at Freddy and worried for Faith.

Faith on the other hand knew she had her phone on the empty seat beside her, as to why she heard it ring that caused her and her brother to snap out of the daydream, which she was glad for. She took it to check it, only to see that it was yet another emergency alert.

 _ **Emergency Alert:**_ _Strict curfew time has been scheduled for 8:45 pm due to the recent events, unless if any changes occur._

 _Also, the recent deaths are not by suicide, but by an unknown killer, few claiming the deaths have been happening mysteriously in sleep. Because of these recent events and that the possible claims could be true, discussions about the killer must be contained and cannot be spread outside of Springwood. Please refrain from sharing information about these unknown deaths to anyone outside of Springwood. The Springwood police are working as diligently as possible to uncover the mysterious deaths and to try to find out how to eliminate the unknown threat._

"Huh, things are getting serious after Jake's death," muttered Faith to herself. "I won't be surprised if curfew goes as early as eight."

Hearing somewhat quiet footsteps, she looked up to see Doug carrying the container of medical supplies. He placed them on the table in front of him before taking a seat beside her. She though had the alert she read in her mind and wondered if he saw the same alert on his phone.

"You got the alert about the curfew change?" she asked.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket before he spoke.

"I did. By the looks of it, it seems that the police really are getting closer to coming around, especially after Mom told them about the whole thing."

"I think they're trying to call him unknown is because his name brings fear, and the police don't want to spread it any further," theorized Faith. "Who knows how many people are fully aware of everything besides us and those people we met?"

Doug took a moment to ponder Faith's first point about the police refusing to use Freddy's name to prevent the spreading fear. It seemed to make a lot of sense to him, and he wondered if the police truly knew the name of the notorious killer.

"You have a good point, sis," he said at last. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly the case. I mean, from what you've found earlier, this Freddy thing has been happening since maybe early this month."

He took out the supplies to clean the wounds on his sister's arm, being as precise as possible so that her wounds could heal properly.

"And we still don't even know who brought Freddy back," he continued in a subtle frustrated tone. "This guy thrives on fear and knowledge of him, he can't just come here himself- "

"Everyone's a suspect in this case," interrupted Faith in a quiet and solemn tone.

Her brother eyed her with a shocked expression on his face, though very much doubted that everyone was a suspect here. He and Faith had only learned about Freddy two days ago and Faith had learned that Freddy had been causing havoc since the beginning of the month.

"Maybe," he said. "But I wouldn't say that's completely true."

"I guess you're right..." She trailed off, noticing from the corner of her eye that his eyes were completely focused on the wounds on her arm.

At that moment, she chose not to speak because she had no desire to break his concentration. While he wasn't so much a perfectionist, she knew that he was precise when it came to fixing wounds like cuts and even scratches. It was because of this that she felt far too polite to throw him off from the task he was trying to complete.

The siblings were completely silent for about a minute as Doug was finishing up with patching up the wounds. However, he made sure it was secure in place just for good measure. After that, he looked up at his younger sister with a small smile on his face.

"All done with that," he said. "Hope that heals. I really hope he doesn't hurt you again, but I'm doubting that'll be the case."

She looked up at him, nodding in agreement. With the way Freddy had been torturing her in her dreams, she had no doubt Freddy would plan to hurt her again, and she had a strong feeling he wouldn't stop anytime soon.

"I'm going to have to get to your ribs," said the brunette.

Faith froze for a moment.

"Son of a-" She stopped herself before letting out a curse word, deciding that the current situation in was no kind of time to cuss. "Hold on for a moment."

She slowly got to her feet, the pain in her ribs was there, but she knew she had to take her damn bra off if the older sibling wanted to make sure he was able to wrap the compression bandage around her without any issues or obstacles. He knew what she was intending to do and that she did not want to do it in front of him, as he helped her steady herself before she could've fallen over. She flashed him a smile, silently thanking him before heading to her room, leaving Doug alone for a few moments.

Doug said nothing in response, but he instead chose to wait patiently and silently. Especially given the events from the daydream that he and Faith had, he needed a moment to try to collect his thoughts. He had several thoughts and even some questions running through his head, some of the thoughts and questions scared him more profoundly than others, and he was at first unsure if he wanted to tell his sister, and it wasn't the first time he felt this way.

The devotion to protect and care for his sister was stronger than he sometimes realized, but at the same time, she read him like a book, and he knew better than to lie to anyone, especially family members. He knew he had to tell her, especially since she always hated lying, even when she had to.

Sighing, he reread the message he was sent earlier, this time reading it more closely, this time more thoughts rushed through his head, even some not related to the message. While it did seem quite odd to him that the killer was considered an unknown threat, he understood why, as the name of his attacker was so terrifying that even the police have not once spoken of the name. Doug was beginning to remember when Faith tried to tell the police what was really going on, only for her to be pushed away, it made sense to him that maybe the police pushed her away because that name brought nothing but terror. It must've been so bad that the police would dub that man as a myth, nothing more.

 _Something really strange is going on here besides the dreams_ , thought Doug, eyes still directed at the message sent to him. _There's something more to all of this, something else that could tie up all the connections from Mom's experiences, and I wonder why almost the whole town seems to know her. Does everyone knowing Mom seem to connect with everything?_

The next time the twenty-year old looked up, he could see Faith walking to the couch, one arm wrapped around her torso. Her breaths were coming out somewhat wheezy and she looked to be slightly struggling to make her way to the couch, making the older sibling raise his eyebrows in concern. Despite that, he was quick to clear the couch, bar one pillow, then rushed to her side. He put her free arm around him so that she could use him for support then he put his free arm around her waist to try to support her as they headed for the couch.

After making it to the couch, Doug helped Faith to lay down on the couch, even taking a few extra measures to make sure she was comfortable. This went from him adjusting the pillow to even trying to fluff the seats of the couch slightly. She gave him a wave to tell him that she was fine and comfortable, and he acknowledged it.

"Was it hurting that bad when you came here?" he asked.

"I was also setting up my school stuff, though didn't think it'd hurt that much," she explained. "Krueger really did get me."

He nodded in agreement.

"Anything else you need?" he asked.

"Maybe a straw before I attempt to spill coffee on myself," she answered. "Would be a lot of fun if I ended up having to take a second shower if I end up spilling coffee on myself."

The older brother chuckled a bit at Faith's sarcasm as he left the room, once again leaving her alone. She didn't mind though, as she was still processing the dream from earlier. She rubbed her eyes in desperate attempt to stay awake. However, laying down anywhere, let alone the couch, was making it harder for her to keep her eyes open.

She tried a few things to try to keep herself awake, even when it felt like it was getting harder. The first thing she tried was slapping herself on the face twice, feeling the stinging pain, but that was to be expected. The next thing she tried to do was to pinch one spot on her arm, holding it in the same position until she could no longer take the pain, which she surprised herself at holding the pinch for fifteen seconds. The next thing she was ready to try was to pinch a spot on her stomach. After thinking for a few seconds, she chose the spot on the left side, midway down her stomach and to make it more effective, she lifted her shirt just below her breasts. Taking a deep breath, she used her index finger and her thumb to grab hold of her skin, bracing herself for the stinging pain. After pinching her skin at the pressure she wanted, she held it there as the stinging pain welcomed her, counting the seconds in her head as she breathed in and out slowly and deeply, hoping that this would be enough to keep herself awake. After what she counted to be thirty-six seconds, she let go then pulled out her phone, almost positive that the hold left a definite mark that would have Doug concerned. She used the camera app as a mirror, only to see that she was right. The part of her stomach where she pinched had a definite mark on it and it was paler than the rest of her skin, though slowly but surely returning to match her skin color.

Never had she went to these lengths to try to keep herself awake nor did she attempt to test her level of pain tolerance in the past. She never liked the thought of doing it as it seemed to unsettle her, and it was something she never liked to resort to even at her lowest state of mind. However, if the pain was enough to keep her awake besides coffee, then she knew it had to work. However, she kept a mental note in her head to set some ground limits for herself and Doug if either of them had to put themselves in pain in order to stay awake.

The raven-haired teen placed her phone on the table, feeling almost but not completely awake. Sighing, she tried to think of something, though she didn't want to take another sip of coffee until her brother came up with a straw. That was when she remembered the aching pain in her ribs. Perhaps, she would try pressing in the areas where it hurt on her ribs to ensure the pain was enough to keep her awake. She never considered the pain in her ribs a blessing in disguise, but something to keep her mind alert if she didn't want another visit in the dream world to result in her death.

She was about to place her hand just right below her rib cage to guide her where to start when she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her left, jumping in surprise to see it was Doug. She had been so focused on trying to keep herself awake that she had not once paid attention to any footsteps getting closer to her.

"Jesus Christ, dude!" she gasped.

"I'm sorry, sis," apologized Doug as he knelt down beside her then took her hand, rubbing it to try to comfort her. "I couldn't really make out what you were doing, but I brought the straw then placed it in the mug."

"Thanks," replied Faith. "But let's not forget that you're sneaky and good at stealth. No wonder why you just scared the hell out of me."

"That was all on Dad teaching me how to be sneaky back when I was six and since then, I was getting good at it like when I would play hide and seek," he protested. "Especially when he wanted me to sneak up on you just minutes before we drove here from Columbus the other day."

She sighed then gave him a light punch in the stomach, as she turned to him with a small smirk on her face.

"I remember your hilarious scheme the other day," she said. "I feel bad for you, but at the same time, it's hilarious that you went ahead with the whole trying to scare me because Dad wanted you to."

He chuckled again before taking another sip of his cup of coffee, however now, the coffee was no longer hot, not even warm. It was almost cold, though he barely cared. As long as it kept him awake, that was what mattered to him. He placed the cup down then his expression turned serious with a definite look of concern in his eyes.

"How are your ribs?" he asked.

The younger sibling shifted slightly in her spot, as if she were trying to make herself more comfortable. However, the ache in her ribs cued up again, though this time, she knew it may be one of the few things she had to keep herself awake.

"Hurts, but I'm fine," she replied with a subtle bold tone in her voice. "Hopefully hanging in there."

Doug didn't look convinced, as he knew that despite what she said, she truly wasn't okay. He saw how much damage Freddy had done to her, and the thought was incredibly terrifying to him. However, he said nothing, instead eyeing her with an unconvinced expression on his face.

"Dude," she said, taking notice of her older brother's expression. "I'll be fine. I'll just take a bit of time here before I go do something else."

The siblings grew silent when a laugh erupted in the atmosphere around the house. The laugh itself was sounding all too familiar to them, familiar in a way that made both of them sick to their stomachs.

Faith got up from her place, ignoring the pain in her ribs, as she looked around her, wondering if something or someone was after her or her brother. He eyed her with confusion as to why she didn't stay put, but she gave him a somewhat determined expression that told him that if he was going to see what was going on, she would go with him.

"Ah, welcome back. You must love your visits here if you're daydreaming that much."

The siblings were almost tempted to shout back at their stalker, but they knew it would be no good and could lead to either or both their demises. Instead, they said nothing and walked down the dark hall, trying to keep their own breathing quiet as to not attract unwanted attention, especially if it was someone trying to torment them and kill them.

Right when they stopped by the stairs, they turned to each other, the same thought lingering in their heads and through their expressions, could read each other's thoughts.

 _We can't even catch a break, can we?_

They solemnly turned to the stairs then with Doug leading the way, the two slowly headed down the stairs. They tried to keep their footsteps as quiet as possible, once again for fear of attracting unwanted attention.

After heading downstairs, Faith headed for the kitchen, an idea in her head to help her and her brother try to defend themselves, should things get to that point. She opened the drawer then took out four sharp, slicing kitchen knives and a smile appeared on her face. She handed two of the knives to Doug who eyed her with surprise.

"To add extra damage to whoever's trying to get us," she explained.

He immediately nodded, completely understanding what she was talking about. He took them gratefully before the two continued slowly, he took the lead.

The siblings now kept right holds on the kitchen knives which they would use as daggers. It made them feel somewhat safer though they stopped a few times to make sure the other didn't vanish in the darkness.

 _SCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

The siblings froze in place, looking at their surroundings as they tried to make out what was happening. They knew that only one person would be making this noise, and the thought left a profound uneasy feeling in them.

As they headed for the living room, they could faintly hear heavy breathing, which only grew louder with every step. Neither sibling said a word at all, let alone a call-out "who's there" as they knew it would only bring trouble and would end badly for them.

"Time for the same game, only it's for Douglas!"

Doug was about to back away from the sound of the heavy breathing when he felt someone grab him by the arm, catching him by shock. Faith saw that it was Freddy who decided to sneak up on her brother and immediately began fight the burnt man with her knives.

Freddy laughed as both siblings were now attacking him. Quickly thinking, he pushed Faith away as she hit back first against the wall adjacent to the trio before dropping to the ground, feeling dazed and hurt from the impact. He laughed again as he swiftly hit the knives in Doug's hands, knocking them out of his grip.

"Dammit!" cried Doug.

"Language, Douglas," chortled Freddy as he grabbed hold of Doug by shirt. "I had a lot of fun with your sister. Now it's your turn. But first, let me have you where I want you."

Doug shook his head before rushing to Faith's side, trying to help her up. Faith was still in a slight daze, but slowly recovering. She flashed a quick smile, thanking him before she decided to devise a plan.

"If he's gunning for you, I'll distract him," she said bluntly. "You get your knives so that you can tag along."

Doug was about to protest, but he saw the determined look on her face that he chose to follow orders. He was worried since Freddy was hellbent on torturing her, but the young man knew that Freddy wouldn't have a chance to toy with him.

Doug scrambled away while Faith walked up to Krueger, positioning her knives in a position that showed she was ready to fight. The dream demon only laughed at the girl's sudden bold stand. Even though she was shorter than a lot of his victims, that didn't wipe off the determined look on her face, yet she had a subtle hint of fear in her eyes.

"Trying to save your brother, huh?" wondered Freddy. "And where are your pink ribbons, Faith?"

The black-haired girl glared at him dangerously, not taking the retort and shot at her name too kindly. She inched her knives closer to his throat and the thunderous look on her face told him that despite the torment she suffered from earlier, she was not one to mess with.

"Fuck you, _perra_!" she hissed before grazing his neck with her knife.

The dream demon could feel the pain, but only temporarily as this was his world. His rules, and his rules only. No one else could bend his rules, even if his potential victims were armed. His world, no one else's. His world!

"Too bad you can't hurt me," he sneered as he tauntingly waved his hand to Faith. "I am eternal and inevitable."

He raised his bladed finger, ready to strike her when he felt a knife stab him on the shoulder then he cringed from the pain. He turned back to see Doug who took out the knife from the demon's shoulder.

"Nice try, Doug," laughed Freddy. "Neither of you will be able to stand a chance against me in my world. Only I can make and bend my own rules."

With that said, he pushed Doug against the wall as Doug hit back first against it, groaning from the impact as he landed on the floor. Freddy sure did love to throw his victims around.

Freddy turned to Faith, his eyes directly at hers. He didn't drop his gaze from hers as he held her by the waist, causing her to recoil from feeling his blistered hands on her exposed waist.

"This kind of dynamic is an amusing one," he purred into her ear as he moved his arm up to just right below her breasts, slowly and carefully traced his blades on her exposed stomach. "No wonder why I'm going to have a lot of fun with you and your brother. Ain't it cute?"

Faith did not answer as she struggled to get out of Freddy's grip. He wouldn't let her, and it wasn't just because he was much stronger than her. He looked down at her exposed, slightly chubby stomach, eyes glinting with interest as now, this would be his favorite spot to make her and some others suffer before he would ultimately kill them. He stared for several seconds before looking up again, eyes directed at the teen's own eyes.

"How sweet," he cooed. "Thick meat."

Faith tried to muster as much strength and power as possible as she used it to stomp her foot on Freddy's foot, causing him to let go of her in the process. He yelped from the attack as he turned to the girl who was now backing away from him, her knives still in hand in a position that showed she was ready to fight. He laughed again, amused that she managed to get away from his grip.

"Feisty move from you," he said, inching closer to her, though she was trying to back away from him. "Surely, your last name doesn't suggest it, but your part-Latina spirit is showing. Want some tips?"

Faith once again refused to answer verbally but answered in the form of grazing Krueger's cheek with one of her knives. Some blood began to pour out of it, but not for long. The demon turned away from her for a moment before turning back to her again, the scratch she had given him had completely disappeared. The evil smile appeared on his face as he laughed again.

"Not much of a talker besides the spicy stuff, are you?" he asked.

Faith almost shouted "fuck you" but she stopped herself before she could. The last thing she wanted to do was to die, especially since she was so young, only fifteen. With how many times she had encountered with him and with how he seemed to behave, she told herself to be careful when she spoke to him.

Freddy though noticed the girl stopping herself from speaking. He tilted his head slightly, confused as to why she would do that. However, before he could get a chance to question her, he felt another graze on his cheek from his knife, but it wasn't Faith who did it. He turned back to see it was Doug who had a bold expression on his face, though the dream demon could see the sliver fear in the younger man's eyes.

"Damn you, Douglas!" shouted Freddy, frustrated. "I was supposed to show you something, but of course your sister had to ruin my plans!"

"It's called a distraction, Krueger," snapped Doug.

The demon let out a cackle or glee as he traced his blade through the younger man's brown hair, causing the latter to shudder. All was silent before Faith ran in to kick Krueger in the groin, causing the dream demon to yelp out once again from the hit. She gave a tiny smirk to Krueger before turning to her older brother.

"Did you just-" began Doug.

"Hopefully to give us a better chance to try to tear a piece of his sweater," interrupted Faith. "I would like to try."

He nodded, though he was worried that she could potentially get hurt worse than she did in the previous dream. However, through the determined expression her face, he didn't tell her otherwise, especially if they were willing to try to pull anything out of the dream world.

Faith held her knives high in hand as she walked towards the demon, ready to strike him again so that she could subdue him enough. Unfortunately, before she could land a shot on his knee, he saw what she was trying to do, as a wicked smile appeared on his face. He clotheslined the teen to the ground hard, causing her to let go of her knives and clatter out of reach.

"Shit!" she cried as she could feel the effects from the impact, her back ached from the hard landing to the floor.

Doug watched with horror as he knew that it was his turn to try to go after Krueger. He walked towards the dream demon, face etched with anger and agony as he raised his knives in similar fashion that his sister did, ready to subdue Krueger as much as he could. Krueger simply laughed, his hot, burnt, and horrid breath in the younger man's face before he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Not so fast, Douglas," jeered Freddy. "I want to have some fun with you."

With that said, he power-bombed Doug to the ground then laughed again, taking his deep interest in the latter's pain. Oh, how he loved to have some fun.

Almost in a similar fashion that he did with Faith in his previous encounter with the siblings together, Freddy slowly traced his index blade from Doug's cheek all the way down to lower part of his stomach, gleefully laughing as he did so. Doug shuddered at the sensation, wanting so hard to get away from Krueger, but the demon refused to let him go.

Freddy then slowly lifted the younger man's shirt just enough to leave the latter's stomach exposed, still laughing as he did so. He then traced his blade on the six somewhat defined pecs, the twisted smile never leaving his face.

"How sweet," said Freddy. "Lean meat. Handsome, but quiet, aren't you?"

Doug didn't answer, refusing to give the demon any of his words. He was thoroughly repulsed by the latter's interest and he tried to look away.

"Hmm...this'll be fun, won't it be, Doug?" asked Freddy as he continued to trace his blade on the twenty-year old's stomach. "Perhaps I'll try this to make my time a little more fun."

With one swift motion, he snapped his blades, just grazing the brunette's skin, causing Doug to gasp from the stinging pain as he kicked Krueger, covering the cut on the top right-hand corner of his stomach. Krueger wouldn't leave though, as he laughed again, taking incredulous enjoyment in Doug's pain.

From the corner of his eye, Doug could see that Faith had just gotten back on her feet as she walked towards him and Krueger. Faith mustered her strength enough that she kicked Krueger as hard as she could, causing the demon to roll out of Doug's way as he stared at her, eyes gleaming with anger.

"What the fuck was that for, bitch?" he said.

Faith had no hesitation to answer.

"Three rules, asshole," she snapped as she walked closer to Freddy. "Rule number one, fuck you. Rule number two, fuck you, asshole. And- "

She took a deep breath then positioned her left foot in front, as if she were about to use it to kick him again. The bold look on her face caused the dream demon to widen his eyes with surprise as he hadn't expected her to look this bold.

"Rule number three, fuck you, bastard!" she finished before kicking him again, harder this time.

Freddy groaned from the kick before turning to her, his cold, soulless eyes twitching as a delighted cackle escaped from his lips. He had finally succeeded in his first mission; taking delight in three major people he had in mind at most. The next was to continuously taunt them and then finally kill them. He held no sense of regret over watching any of his recent four deceased victims and had no remorse for the remaining victims he continuously tormented.

"That's a lot of rules," he said as he raised his bladed hand, as if he were going to strike Faith. "I would kill you, little piggy, but I'm enjoying my fun with Doug, Donald, and especially you."

He swung the blade, ready to strike at the her and to make her suffer. However, she saw what he was going to do, so she dodged before he could land a hit on her. He laughed again as he got back on his feet, inching towards her.

"You can keep dodging me all you want, but you can't kill me here," he taunted.

"No shit on that we can't kill you in your own damn world, Krueger," growled Doug as he had just got back to his feet after the torment he received, now standing next to his younger sister.

The dream demon said nothing, but he raised his bladed hand in the air again, wiggling the knives slightly as if he were taunting the siblings. The siblings started to back up, but Freddy continued to inch closer to them, the cackle of delight escaping his lips. Without hesitation, he reached out to Doug's arm, successfully grazing his skin from his arm to his palm and the knife he held on had left his grip then clattered on the ground out of reach, causing some blood to ooze out of the wound.

"No!" cried Doug, agony evident in his voice as he threw his other knife, the knife hitting Freddy's cheek.

Doug was now holding his injured arm, having completely forgotten the wound he received earlier. The wound on his arm was more painful than his previous injury, and Faith stood in front, standing up for her brother. Even as much as he would stand up for her and protect her more than himself, she would always return the favor, even if in this case, it was risky. Despite that, she was horrified when she saw Freddy give Doug the alarmingly long cut, telling her that she had to do something or else, Freddy would kill the younger man.

"You're gonna pay for that, Krueger," she said, her voice turning hard. "If you hurt one of us, you already hurt the other."

Freddy tilted his head at her for a moment, confused at first as to why she would say such a thing. However, he remembered that the siblings shared a special close bond that the statement caused him to laugh. His guffaws echoed throughout the house, causing the teen to shudder slightly. She did not question why he was laughing, as she was worried that he would immediately injure her worse than before.

"Try being bold all you want, but you're not fooling me, Faith," he said after calming down from laughing. "I know deep down, you're afraid of me. Your fear fuels me."

With that said, he swiped his bladed hand on her healing wound on her arm that she received in her first nightmare, causing the girl to scream out in pain. He laughed and laughed at her pain as she covered her wound with her hand. After he was done laughing, he took one quick glance at his blades, taking notice of the hints of blood, Faith's blood on it. He licked each blade clean; the taste of her blood was what he considered delightfully salty.

After licking his blades, he turned back to the black-haired teen, eyes directed at her.

"Time for another!" he laughed as he raised his bladed hand again, once again ready to strike.

A second after saying this, a phone rang once again, causing the siblings to wake out of their daydream as they were still in the upstairs common room. Faith quickly sat up, ignoring the now lessening pain in her ribs, while Doug nearly fell from how startled he was from the daydream. It took the siblings a few moments to catch their breaths from the dream, as well as to try to focus on the real world.

After taking a moment to realize that she was no longer in the dream world, Faith immediately grabbed her still-ringing phone from the table, reading the name as: _**Mallory**_.

A feeling of dread began to wash through her since she did tell her best friend from Columbus about Freddy before learning about how his influence could spread. Even though she knew that Maggie was really the only one who could allow the demon's influence to spread outside of Springwood, Faith herself felt responsible for unintentionally putting her best friend in danger after telling her about Freddy during the first night she moved to Springwood. She knew that she had to apologize to her. Barely taking any moments of hesitation, she slid the screen to answer it.

"Mallory?" she said, a feeling of unexplainable panic building up in her and the guilt that sent ruptures of pain in her own mind, and her voice was frantic. "Oh god! I'm glad you called. Listen, I'm really sorry about that stuff I told you earlier. Freddy is simply just a horrid folktale in Springwood- "

"Faith, I know you're sounding in a panic, but you need to calm down for a moment," came the voice of her best friend. "I actually called you for something."

Doug could see that his sister was nearly on the verge of hysterics, judging from the frantic hold on her phone and the tone in her voice when she spoke. He immediately rushed to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder then rubbed it, hoping for it to calm her down.

Faith took slow, steady deep breaths to try to calm herself down after the near panic she had racing in her mind. Her best friend, who was two years older than her, was someone Faith considered an older sister figure to her, an older sister she never had. She knew she had to keep her mind calm before she could completely go in a panic, since she was often paranoid about things. To her, Mallory was the next one there for her when her family couldn't.

"Okay," said Faith at last. "What is it that you need to tell me?"

"Is Doug with you?" asked Mallory.

"Yes, he is," replied Faith. "You need to talk to him?"

"Put me on speaker," hissed Mallory. "Both of you need to know something that I'm about to tell you."

Faith took the phone away from her ear then tapped on the button that put Mallory on speaker.

"You there?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," replied Mallory, the speaker caused both siblings to jump and gasp from the sudden loudness.

Faith quickly lowered the volume just a sliver bit until she reached to the point where she felt satisfied.

"Are you okay?" asked Mallory. "You sounded like something scared the hell out of you."

The younger girl swallowed hard; the nightmare still fresh in her head. Even as much as she had taken bold stands, the horror of the dream had left her shaken and still having a hard time trying to keep control on herself.

Doug didn't look much better, but he stayed as still as possible as he knew he had to be on the listen. However, the dream was still tugging at the front of his mind, causing him to shudder a bit.

"Bad dream," said Faith flatly.

"Mal," said Doug. "What is it that you need to tell us?"

"Alright," sighed Mallory. "It's about the Freddy thing and something else. I'll mention the something else first."

Hearing "Freddy thing" sent a wave of chills down Faith's spine and another wave of panic. She had a bad feeling that her best friend had gone to actually research Freddy, potentially putting her in danger. The last thing the fifteen-year old wanted was for someone with knowledge of Freddy, especially Maggie to travel to Columbus, risky any knowledge to spread further. However, she had to stay as calm as she could if she wanted to get the information right.

"First off," began Mallory. "I'm already firm and clear for heading to Springwood College for some classes. I would've have chosen for college classes here, but Springwood seemed to be a cheaper option. My aunt Paige lives in Springwood, so I made the move yesterday to stay with her for the semester before I go back to Columbus."

The siblings were silent for a moment, wondering what to think of this. Doug widened his eyes with surprise, having not expected to hear the news on this. Faith on the other hand wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that her friend wasn't going to be in any danger in Columbus or to feel even more worried that now, she told the older girl about the dream demon and Mallory was coming to Springwood, it could further put her in danger.

Faith also felt a profound sinking feeling in her chest that told her that if her best friend would be another victim of Freddy's (which she hoped wasn't the case), she would feel incredibly responsible. It was this sinking feeling that told her that she had to be stern with her friend so ensure her survival.

"Alright, Mallory, you have to listen," she said in a stern tone. "This may be a hard task but trying to do so will save your life. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep."

"Thanks for the tip," said Mallory a little more cheerfully. "But also, get a load of this."

"Tell us," insisted Doug.

Ten seconds of silence.

"After what Faith told me about this guy," began Mallory, her voice now more hushed. "I decided to do my own small research on this stuff. Looks like Springwood has a hell of a history. And at least half of these older articles wouldn't be posted just recently in the past month or so."

"Those articles used to be up," said Doug, his voice was somewhat trembling from the thought of revealing this news to his sister's best friend. "But years ago, in earlier two thousands, the whole town was hellbent on eliminating this guy's existence since it's the knowledge and fear that can spread, though he would have to use his daughter to get out of Springwood. Freddy was in hell and apparently had been there for a long time after that, eventually coming back earlier this month. Faith and I have come up with a theory that someone must have learned about Freddy and then spread his influence enough that forgetting about him won't be possible, we have to destroy him and the information on him."

"Shit, I'm gonna be honest here," chuckled Mallory. "I don't know if you two are almost like detectives or if you're sounding like those Avengers or something like that."

The siblings couldn't help but laugh quietly to themselves at the comment. They couldn't exactly blame her, since they were smart, bringing home A's and B's in their classes, and that they remembered an old game they used to play with their friends when they were younger. Another thing was that they were often being there for each other.

"Well, the old horror mystery games we used to play was more than enough practice," said Faith. "This one though may be the biggest one yet."

"Doug?" said Mallory, barely hiding a laugh in her voice. "If I see you at college, I'm warning you that I may bring something to hit you in the head with after giving me, Marianne, and John an extremely difficult horror mystery."

Doug didn't even bother hiding his laughter at the comment. He remembered when he would make up scenarios for Mallory, her sister, and his own best friend, he always made up harder ones, ones that took the three nearly a month to figure out, whereas when he and Faith got challenging ones, the most challenging horror mystery scenario took them at most two weeks to figure out. His and Faith's intelligence was mostly natural, but it also came in the form of their mother always loved to think creatively. The entire thing was something Doug found funny.

"Geez," he chuckled. "That would hurt."

Mallory laughed again.

Faith listened silently but didn't hide the slight smirk forming on her face. She remembered the same games she would play with her brother and her friends and always found it amusing that her brother gave her friends incredibly challenging imaginary mysteries to solve.

 _So typical Doug_ , she thought amusedly. _But at the same time, we're totally thanking those games._

"How about I hit you in the abs, or I'll pretend to bump into you like those cliché girls Faith always mentioned," suggested Mallory.

The siblings turned a slight shade of red, embarrassed for different reasons, but still laughed at the words. Doug, on account of having his looks and personality nearly at opposite ends, was not entirely surprised to receive such a comment, but found it funny regardless. Faith on the other hand facepalmed as she laughed, one of the few cases when she felt uncomfortable on hearing a comment regarding her brother's good looks, though she figured it was normal to feel awkward.

"Mallory," she said. "Soon enough, I'm about to haul my Latina ass to your place and then hit you in the head with the Freddy articles."

"Girl, you should be more scared about the shit in your way," said Mallory, only slightly dropping her amused tone. "What was your address again?"

"1428 Elm Street," answered Doug.

The three were silent for a long moment, the address itself was sounding much more daunting. The siblings remembered learning about this very house they were living in had quite a hefty history, but the way Doug said the address left an uneasy feeling within him and he was sure that it trembled his sister as well.

"Shit!" hissed Mallory. "You're both definitely are in the worst of the danger. I did my own research on that house; it's been through a lot of shit. Have you guys even attempted to kill this guy?"

Long pause.

"Not really," replied Faith in a small voice. "There's supposed to be this pill called Hypnocil that suppresses nightmares, and it comes in about six days. The main thing we've done is to make sure he's contained so that he doesn't go far outside of Springwood."

"I see," replied Mallory. "I'll go ahead and let you guys go. I'm sure you have a lot to discuss with each other."

"Alright," said the siblings in unison.

After the exchange of goodbyes, Faith ended the call then turned to Doug, eyes wide with shock and surprise that she couldn't exactly explain. She had secretly hoped that her best friend would forget about Freddy, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Mallory was heading for Springwood, and Faith was now worried that this could potentially end quite badly. With her mind racing violently, the agonizing paranoia for her best friend overtaking her, and the earlier dreams still swimming in her head, she dropped down to her knees then hung her head in shame. She knew she messed up, letting her best friend know about Freddy, and now, she was sure she would be completely responsible if the other girl died at the hands of Freddy.

"Oh god, what the hell have I done?" she wondered, her voice dripping with anguishing shame as she shook her head.

Doug could feel his heart sink as he watched the younger sibling drop to her knees and hearing the shame in her voice. His face was etched with anguish as he knelt down to her then wrapped his arms around her to try to comfort her. He knew she felt incredibly responsible, but he refused to cause her even more pain.

"I wish I didn't tell her," said the black-haired teen, her tone hadn't changed. "It's all my fault, I put her in danger, I'll never forgive myself."

After another few seconds, her older brother let her go then he took her hand. He understood how distressed she was after the call, but he knew that also, he knew that if they wanted to survive and also try to help her best friend survive, it fell on the siblings' shoulders to remain strong for her, their new acquaintances, and just about all of Springwood.

"I understand you," he said softly. "I understand why you're ashamed, worried, and paranoid for your best friend, but you can't keep blaming yourself. Whether she'll be alright or not, I don't even know at this point, but you're doing no good for yourself to keep worrying about this situation constantly. I understand that you messed up, but you can't keep your head low because of it."

She said nothing for a long moment, taking this time to let his words sink in. While she was indeed worried for her friend, she knew that her brother was right that she shouldn't be dwelling too much on the danger she put her friend in. She knew why she was having this agonizing paranoia, and she knew that she had to let go a little bit. She closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, then opened her eyes again, eyes directed at the older sibling.

"Crap," she said solemnly. "I'm sorry. My head is still on these nightmares, and I am dreading having to go to sleep tonight. I'm more worried for you having to stay up."

"It's okay," he reassured her. "The nightmares have been rough on us. I'll try to do whatever it takes to keep myself awake so that I can make sure you're doing okay. We'll just have to stay strong and contain the douche until we can destroy him."

She nodded in agreement; a small smile appeared on her face. She greatly appreciated her brother's kind words.

She though let go of his hand when she noticed the blood pouring out of his hand. Her eyes widened with shock when she noticed this, as she saw the dream demon give her brother two cuts, the one on his arm though looked pretty deep.

"Bro, you're going to have to get that fixed," she said, gesturing to the wound.

He looked down to see the blood slowly pulsing out of his wound and then pouring down his arm.

"I figured so," he replied. "It looks pretty bad..."

He paused as he looked up, noticing the wound on Faith's arm, which had been healing long before Freddy decided to reopen it. He examined it more closely, wondering if it had the same depth as it did previously. Even through the blood, he could see that the wound was deeper than it was before, much to his horror.

"Oh gosh," he said, shuddering. "Sis, that monster got you really good. Are you okay? Does it still hurt?"

Faith said nothing for a moment, now taking a moment to really pay attention to the wound on her arm. She had been so wrapped up in what her best friend mentioned earlier that she hadn't given herself enough time to process her injury. She was even sure that this was the same case with Doug.

Her eyes shifted to the wound on her arm, as the blood was slowly pulsing out of it and pouring down her arm. The sight of the wound, not the mention that it was deeper than the last time she was slashed in the same area in her first dream of Freddy, was unpleasant to say the least. The stinging pain was still there, though not as bad as when she was slashed just moments earlier in her daydream. However, unlike her first encounter when Freddy had taken deep enjoyment of her fear and pain when he slashed her, she had received the wound on account of trying to save her brother from possibly receiving a similar injury.

"Honestly, it hurts," she said quietly. "I'm just shaken from the dream. And, I was trying to save you from getting hurt a third time."

Doug nodded solemnly, understanding why his sister received the wound. However, it scared him to think that now, it seemed like either he or Faith would end up on the receiving end of injuries to save the other. And who knew how the others were handling these nightmares, neither sibling knew.

"I'll fix you up," said Doug at last, turning to the kit on the table. "That looks really bad."

He wasted no time to begin cleaning the wound, decided that he would fix his own wounds after fixing Faith's. The routine was simple enough for him, clean the wound, put some stuff on the wound whether it'd be antibiotics or ointment, and then patching it up. However, he made sure he was precise so that her wound would heal properly. The process took him about five minutes before she was patched up and ready to go.

"I'm going to go ahead and take care of some stuff," said Faith. "Getting my school stuff together and picking out what to wear tomorrow."

"That's perfectly fine," said Doug, lightly patting his sister on the shoulder. "I'll fix my own wounds and probably do the same thing that you're doing."

She nodded before she stood up, heading to leave the upstairs common room. She hoped this would be another resort to keep herself awake without drinking a copious amount of coffee and causing herself pain. The coffee taste was slowly but surely leaving her tongue, which she was glad about, but she dreaded having to take another sip.

Doug stood up a few seconds after, his tired mind told him to go to sleep, but he refused. However, he worried more for his sister, and decided that he had to think outside of the box for less drastic measures to keep both himself and the teen awake. The thought of taking drastic actions to keep himself awake scared him, the thought of purposely putting himself in pain was scary to say the least, as he never liked to fall into such actions even when he was at his lowest state of mind.

 _Gosh, I hope I don't fall asleep in class_ , he thought worriedly.

A thought suddenly came into his mind to try to help his sister stay awake, though it was a strange one, and probably amusing. The idea in his head reminded him of the few little pillow fights he had with his sister when they were younger, she being the first to make the hit. However, it didn't involve a pillow.

Sighing he took off his shirt, also conveniently to him because he had almost forgotten about the small slash mark on his stomach, courtesy of Freddy Krueger.

"Here goes nothing," he whispered to himself.

He crumbled his shirt a bit, not too small that it could potentially hurt someone. After that, he turned to where he wanted to aim at, and the thought of doing what he was about to do almost made him chuckle, possibly because he was shirtless, making the situation even weirder for him, not that it bothered him being shirtless.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he threw his shirt at Faith with as much power as he could muster, the shirt managing to land on her head. He almost laughed, but he swallowed hard to refrain from doing so in case she decided to plan her revenge.

She stopped in place right in front of her room then turned back to him, noticing the smirk on his face. She couldn't help but laugh quietly to herself, as she knew that he hit her in the head with his shirt.

"Really, bro?" she asked, though barely suppressing a laugh.

"Yes," chuckled Doug as he walked down the hall then stopped by Faith's side. "Thought I was trying to help you and it was funny."

She nodded before taking his shirt off of her head, wondering what to do it with. Unconsciously, she gave a quick glance at the wound on his stomach, cringing at the sight, as she remembered seeing how he got the wound in the first place. She looked back up, her eyes directed at his, then threw his shirt back at him.

"That's a reminder for you to get your wounds fixed," she said sternly, though she was just barely holding back a giggle from her actions.

"I will," assured Doug, taking the shirt off of his head. "Don't worry."

She nodded as she turned to head to her room, not another word was said from her. Doug turned to the table to grab the first aid kit then headed for the bathroom to fix his own wounds.

It had taken Doug nearly ten minutes with patching up his wounds, since the worst one was the one on his arm. Seeing how deep it was and seeing the blood made him shudder, not that he was bothered by the sight of his own blood. His mind still raced from the dream and the phone call from earlier as he was trying to focus on the task at hand. After he finished, he put his shirt back on then left the bathroom, remembering that he decided to pick out his clothes for tomorrow since he didn't want to harm himself nor drink copious amounts of coffee just for the sole purpose of trying to keep himself awake for the rest of the night.

In her room, Faith was currently going through her closet on what to wear tomorrow. She already had put her black Converse shoes by the front of her bed, as she had already been content with wearing them. She had a vague idea in her head on what to wear, but she didn't want her scars from her dreams to be seen.

Not that she was insecure about herself, as she felt fairly confident in herself, but the wounds she received was something she was worried would cause alarm among her new classmates, if they didn't hear of Freddy. She refused to mention Freddy to them, and she was sure enough that she would run out of fake excuses that would be classified as accidents before they would become suspicious of her.

After looking for roughly ten minutes, though she considered the lengthy time a blessing in disguise, she settled for a thin dark blue v-neck shirt and a thin black coverup. While she wasn't entirely fond of the heat in Ohio, she figured this would be better than having her other wounds exposed that would lead to suspicion that she was doing this to herself, even though she didn't nor did she want to. Not long after, she settled for black capris that she found in her dresser.

The fifteen-year old then placed her outfit she picked out on the edge of her bed, smiling to herself that she finally got something done, something that would both keep her head busy and that would help her stay awake. As long as she didn't fall asleep, she was good.

In his own room, Doug had finished patching his wounds and had been looking through his closet for nearly seven minutes for what to wear for school. Even though it was summer and the heat in Ohio was quite unpleasant, he had to try to cover the wound on his arm, though he couldn't exactly avoid covering his hand wound, as it was too hot for gloves.

He stopped for a moment from looking through his closet to take a long look at his bandages hand, wondering what kind of excuse he could make up, if his potential new classmates ended up questioning him about it. His mind was screaming for him to call it a night, to go to sleep to rest away his earlier troubles, but he refused, knowing that it could likely mean death. After a long moment of thinking, he decided to settle for a decent enough excuse.

"Just a bad paper cut," he told himself. "That's what I'll tell them."

Taking a deep breath, he looked up again then began searching through his closet. While the task itself seemed harder for him than he realized, he welcomed the lengthy time, as it allowed him more time to think, as he was often a deep thinker. He continuously moved his hung-up clothes left and right, still in deep thought on what he wanted to pick out, though as long as the thoughts from his dream were kept at bay. Long sleeves would work, but he didn't want to push himself to the point that the shirt would be too thick, especially if it was still in the summer.

After rummaging around his closet for the umpteenth time, he settled for a thin grey long-sleeved shirt, though he still hoped this would be enough to not be too hot but also not to show his scars from his dreams. He didn't want to imagine what people would think, if they saw the scars. He put the shirt at the edge of his bed then walked to one of his dressers, picking out the first pair of jeans he saw, which took no time, then put them at the edge of his bed, smiling to himself that he at least got that through.

The rest of the night for the siblings was much less eventful, more so to their relief. While Faith had taken to writing a few random supernatural and horror short stories she had in her head and then later reading a few of her books from her bookshelf, Doug did the same thing, though also did two sessions of pacing all of upstairs for forty-five minutes, excusing it as he need to organize his thoughts before losing it.

The conversations they had had stirred away from Freddy, both agreeing that it was best to write their own thoughts down and save them for later. Both were mentally drained from the frequent nightmares that they chose to steer clear from speaking of them until the morning, and with the upcoming funeral in their minds, they didn't feel right completely digging into any clues concerning the recently deceased before the funeral. Not even Weston Heights's Tumblr was spoken of. The siblings also didn't feel right trying to figure everything out when they didn't have enough information to piece everything together, considering that they heard that Maggie Burroughs was coming which would allow more information for them to look into, hopefully with any assistance of their new acquaintances Chloe, Mark, Mandy, and Donald.

What the siblings did hope for was for the next day to be less eventful, more productive as to keep themselves awake, and to provide their own condolences to their new acquaintances after hearing the news of Jake's death.

Luckily for the siblings, neither one fell asleep nor fell into a daydream. However, they refused to rely on luck because staying awake took painstaking effort that they knew wouldn't even be close to being easy for them alone and together. However, the efforts and lengths that were taken were all worth it in the end.

— — — — —

The warm summer morning was fast approaching as a lone man was making his way into Springwood Cemetery. Never in a span of thirty years did he think he would be coming back here, especially after everything he witnessed and learned about unfolded in front of him was rushing through his head, as if the events happened a few days ago rather than thirty years ago.

Despite this, he had two good reasons for coming back here. One, the phone call he received from Maggie Burroughs hours ago had told him the news that he feared would happen. Springwood, no longer peaceful, but instead brought the return of the menace that shook the man to his core. This led to the second reason, deciding to pay a visit to two people who he helped thirty years ago, only to lead to his friends' unfortunate tragedies.

He was just about to enter the cemetery when he heard voices of two people, sounding closer every second. He stopped by the gate, noticing that the voices seemed to be coming from a man and a woman walking down the sidewalk, both looked barely thirty-five, maybe no older than forty. The woman's curly brown hair bounced with her footsteps while the man next to her brushed his hand through his dark brown hair then sighed. The older man was silent as he overheard their conversation.

"Damn, six days for the Hypnocil to get here?" said the younger man. "Layla, this is really worrying. The situation is only getting worse for all of us and everyone here. I mean, containing this guy is going to be a hell of a chore."

The older man's ears perked up and his eyes widened with surprise. The memories from Westin Hills began rushing in his head like a freight train, as he found them painful to remember.

 _And the...the Hypnocil! It had been thirty years, how even?_

"I don't disagree with you, Damien," replied the young woman. "All this damn time, I thought it was an old folktale after my own experiences, but no. We're approaching about five days left before it can get here. And with Faith's driving test approaching tomorrow, she's worried about having to sleep tonight, but also worries that if she doesn't, it'll be trouble."

"So, she's sleeping tonight? Will she be okay?"

"Doug insisted on keeping watch on her, though she also insisted that he go to sleep that night after while she stays awake to keep watch on him."

"Okay. It's just that...Layla, ever since we moved here, everything's been so freaky in ways that neither of us could put our fingers on. The dreams from the kids, the kids come wounded, and the pills are delayed. I've never been more worried about how this would go."

"I hear you, Damien. However, the main thing is that we wait for the Hypnocil to get here while we try to contain that bastard before he can be destroyed at the right time. After that, we'll never speak of him again."

After the two passed by him, the man sighed before entering through the gates. Even with the main reason why he was here, he decided to pay a visit to two people he remembered. It had been thirty years, the thought gravely pained him.

He had little trouble navigating through the cemetery to find two particular tombstones, as he found them next to each other, much to his agonizing humiliation. Not once did he think he would step foot in Springwood after a matter of thirty years, but today was a different story entirely.

Neil Gordon took a shaky breath as he knelt down in the space in between the graves of Nancy Thompson and her father, the former Lt. Donald Thompson, their names well engraved on their respective tombstones. He closed his eyes for a long moment, trying to keep his composure before he could completely break down, waves of agony, grief and humiliation flashed everywhere in him from the crown of his head to the pit of his stomach. He hadn't expected for this visit to send such painful memories that tormented him, even after thirty years after Donald's and Nancy's deaths.

 _Thirty years._

After what felt like a minute, Neil opened his eyes then turned his direction first to Nancy's grave, taking another shaky breath before he spoke, voice shaky and solemn.

"Hello Nancy."

He turned to Donald Thompson's grave.

"Hello Donald."

 **...**

 **Hey guys! Things are getting crazier, and with adding yet another daydream sequence, I'm lowkey evil for not letting our protagonists be safe, LOL! Poor Doug and Faith, at least they have each other, that's powerful sibling love!**

 **I apologize if this chapter came out a little clunky, though I tried to make it not as clunky as that chapter I posted that was all in Freddy's perspective.**

 **Ooooh! The return of Neil Gordon! And interesting thing, I was originally going to only have Maggie return, but now, I couldn't hold back from bringing Neil, and plus, I already have a role planned out for him. It should be fun! Plus, it's a shame we never really learn about what happened to him after Dream Warriors.**

 **As for Mallory, if you remember the character I mentioned in one of my earlier chapters (back when my writing was quite atrocious), she will get an interesting role in this story, as I felt I wasn't going to just have it as a forgotten part, plus with Faith unintentionally telling her about Freddy, it'll be interesting to see what I can come up with this. As for if Mallory will survive or not, we'll see, I won't say anything to prevent spoilers.**

 **Also, it looks like Freddy has picked his three favorite victims, including our main protagonists!**

 **Next chapter, we'll check back in with the other characters that are still alive, though we'll also get a scene with Doug and Faith. However, hold on tight because it's gonna be a wild ride!**

 **Thanks for reading, guys! :)**


	25. The Lesson to Heal A Soul

Silence was the only thing that greeted Neil. He knew he couldn't stay here long because he had to meet Maggie at a local coffee shop to speak about what the plan would be. He though told himself that whenever he had sole free time, he would devote the time visit Nancy's and Donald's graves.

"I just wanted to say hello," he continued. "It's been thirty years since..." His voice broke slightly, the memory of watching Donald her impaled to death and then later hearing that Nancy had died too still fresh in his head as if it happened yesterday. "Everything. I can't be here long, but I really need your help. It's happening again, I need help, especially from you, Nancy."

He planted his face on the grass as tears begin to spill from his face and the only thing that could be heard were his anguished sobs. He greatly missed Nancy and Donald and wished they hadn't died, as well as what he heard those other kids had died, the Dream Warriors. What he did know was that since he heard about what had been happening here, he wouldn't hesitate to try to assist anyone with the current predicament even though the memories haunted him.

 _I miss you, Donald, I miss you, Nancy_ , he thought sadly.

— — — — —

The morning of the first day of classes couldn't come soon enough for Doug and Faith. They had been quite anxious, especially after their two daydreams that occurred in a matter of minutes. They were glad when the time hit 7:00 am on their phones, they were free to start with their days and getting ready for classes. In fact, they hoped that starting classes would a blessing in disguise, considering that they needed the time to take their minds off Freddy and the dreams unless if it was absolutely necessary to mention anything. Also, they were glad about having already picked out their clothes shortly after their second daydream together, having excused it as something to keep their minds alert.

As for coffee, they still found it unpleasant, though they knew they had to drink it if they didn't want to fall asleep. In their duration of the rest of the night, Faith went through three cups of coffee while Doug went through two cups of coffee. It was harder than they originally thought, but the good news for them was that they went through the rest of the night without another dream.

The siblings left the upstairs common room and headed for their rooms to get dressed. Though it was still rather early, they were both fixated on being readily prepared early and because their parents as well as the siblings themselves knew that traffic on the first day was bound to be messy. Doug especially told himself that he had to take extra precautions since he hadn't slept at all and sitting in traffic was almost tempting for him to fall asleep.

Doug was currently in his room, taking one glance at his dark blue already-packed backpack, flashing a tiny smile at it, pleased he packed up his things for his college classes hours ago. Despite that, he had excused this on needing to do something that wasn't just sitting on the couch if he was trying to stay awake without drinking too much coffee and putting himself through any form of pain.

After the glance at his backpack, he quickly undressed from his pajamas then turned to the mirror hanging on the door of his closet. He was quick to peel off the bandages he put on last night, the peeling itself hurt him but that meant he was keeping himself awake. However, he wished to never put himself through such pain after all of this was over.

He knew he had to check how well the wounds were healing and if he needed to re-bandage the two wounds he received in his dream. The first he looked at was his arm, the worst injury he received so far. It looked to be healing a bit, though he decided that he had to re-bandage it, knowing that if he didn't, it could be worse. Sighing, he glanced further down the mirror to get a glimpse on the wound on his stomach. Much to his surprise, it seemed to be healing quite well, though the initial cut wasn't as bad as the one on his arm.

 _No joke that Freddy is ruthless_ , he thought. _That monster re-injured me and my sister and it's obvious that we can't even catch a break._

Just for good measure, he pressed two of his fingers, index and middle, next to the slash mark. Even though the wound itself wasn't very bad, he still had an acute sense of worry that Freddy must've had done something more with that slash mark. No more than fifteen seconds passed when he sighed of relief that nothing worse that happened with the wound.

The twenty-year old's eyes shifted up, taking a good look at his face through his reflection, noticing a few effects from the all-nighter he pulled off. His hair was messier than usual and his eyes, while not terribly bloodshot, were indeed a little red. He even noticed the bags under his eyes, which was enough to send him rushing to his bathroom to freshen up.

After he finished with that, he left the bathroom then headed back to his room, wondering where to start on next. He glanced down at his pair of black Converse for a few seconds before beginning to put on his socks and shoes while he was still standing up. He had little issue with balance and was done within moments.

He went ahead to check the time on his phone, hoping he was on time, as he disliked being late.

 _7:05 am_

 _Awesome_ , thought the twenty-year old. _Ahead of schedule. Just please come soon, 8:00 am so that Faith and I can leave._

Even though he was ahead of his own mental schedule, he was still anxious to start getting ready right away as he was tired of just sitting anywhere after he paced around upstairs for a good forty-five minutes. He remembered excusing the pacing on that he needed to do something to stay awake and not to fall asleep because he dreaded seeing that disgusting man again.

In her own room, Faith was now getting dressed for her first day of school as a sophomore in high school. She had already done her own freshening up in her own bathroom before she ran back into her room to get dressed. She remembered the specific time Doug wanted them to leave and she also wanted to try to keep her mind alert despite how tired she was, she told herself to make sure she didn't stop to think about the dreams she had hours ago.

After getting dressed she turned to her mirror by her dresser, just to double check she looked decent. She smiled to herself at her success, as it had taken just a little bit of foundation to cover up the hint of bags under her eyes. Even though she rarely wore makeup and usually found it a hassle to figure out, her all-nighter had put extra pressure on her to look presentable even when in actuality, she was tired.

Shortly after, she turned to her black Converse shoes then took them, placing them on her bed. She sat down on her bed then put on her socks and shoes, her mind was racing from the dreams, but she forced herself to keep her mind off the dreams for now. She wanted to put her focus on getting ready so that she didn't slip into another daydream, which she had too many in just a matter of hours.

After that, she turned to her small black desk, her eyes directed at two items; a simple silver ring with a fake diamond and a simple silver locket. She first took the ring then put it on her finger in between her middle finger and her pinkie. Luckily, she did this without her thoughts running to the dreams.

Satisfied, the teen turned to her locket, opening it to reveal two things; some text on the left side that read: _To Faith, Sister and Best Friend_ , and a photo of her and Doug taken just a week before she turned fifteen last month. She remembered being overjoyed when it was indeed her older brother who had given it to her as a birthday gift, symbolizing her closeness with him. She smiled at it, now already imagining herself using it as comfort from her distress from the dreams. In fact, she indeed find it comforting, and she was not pleased with herself for not wearing it yesterday and the day before, but she reassured herself that she had been so wrapped up in readying for her move to Springwood and then the eventful textbook errand.

Sucking in a deep breath, she closed it then put it on, having little trouble with attaching the chain hook.

Exhaling, she turned to her mirror one more time just to make sure she looked decent. After taking a few moments to fix her hair, she smiled to herself as she was ready to go.

She quickly took her dark blue backpack and her small black purse before heading out of her room, at the same time seeing Doug walk out of his room with his backpack in hand from the corner of her eye as they headed for the stairs. They stopped for a moment, wondering who should go down first, since they did not want to hit each other while they were holding their backpacks.

"Ladies first?" suggested Doug at last, gesturing for Faith to head downstairs first.

"Thanks, bro," smiled the fifteen-year old as she was first to walk down the stairs. "You're such a gentleman."

"You're welcome, sis," he replied politely as he followed her down the stairs.

The siblings were about halfway down the stairs when they saw their mother currently organizing some papers on the kitchen table. She looked up to see her kids were already up and ready then she turned to the clock on the oven, which read 7:17 am.

"You two are up earlier than usual," she chuckled. "And how was everything with staying up?"

"Need to stay awake," answered Faith. "And also, traffic is very likely to be terrible. Staying up was honestly harder than we thought, but despite having two daydreams, we managed to stay up."

Layla nodded as she walked to her daughter then placed a hand on her shoulder, her smile dropping just a little bit to a smaller smile. She understood the growing fear that lingered in her children since moving to Springwood, but she understood that they were determined to end it soon, preferably on the same day the Hypnocil arrived. She couldn't help but smile a somewhat wider smile when she saw her kids quickly grab their bowls for cereal, though she did find it a little odd that they were still a little more than just awake even after staying up for the whole night. The twenty-year old and the teen headed for the table, carrying spoons and their bowls with cereal and milk though it wasn't long before one of them spoke.

"Mom?" said Doug. "Why is it that a lot of people seem to know you, almost like it was in that one bad movie, Twilight when everyone knew that girl?"

Layla turned to him, surprised that he would be asked such a question, but she knew it would be best for him and her daughter to tell them the truth. They deserved to learn it more than anything.

"It's mostly been my connection with Maggie Burroughs," she replied. "However, Maggie has the full story which I'll ask her to tell you. I'm trying what I can to make it up to you two after I mistakenly told you two about Freddy and I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Mom," reassured Doug. "Like we mentioned before, you thought it was some scary story. Neither of us knew Freddy was actually back, but once this is all said and done, we'll never speak of him again. Also, you don't have to tell us everything now. That'll leave enough room for Faith and I to make up a bunch of theories."

Layla laughed after hearing the last sentence, knowing how much her kids were usually deep thinkers. She decided not to speak further on the subject, knowing her old doctor knew the details and instead, let her kids finish their breakfast without bothering them.

Thirty minutes had passed when the siblings put on their backpacks and were ready to go after putting their dishes away. Doug kept a tight hold on his truck keys when he heard his mother call out to him.

"Doug," she said. "Have a good day and be careful."

"Thank you, Mom," smiled Doug as he turned to her. "You too."

Layla kept her smile as she watched her kids walk out the front door before she turned to finish getting ready for her first day working in Westin Hills. It was a big day for her, and she was nervous to say the least.

 _Hope this goes well_ , she thought.

— — — — —

For the siblings, they kept their conversation away from Freddy, deciding that speaking about the dream demon so early in the morning wasn't going to do well for them. The drive was smooth, save for some traffic when Doug got close to the high school, though he made sure he was careful and when he did make it there to drop off Faith, they wished each other a good day as Faith closed the truck's door before turning away to walk through the doors of Springwood High School.

Getting out was little trickier for Doug, but keeping as cautious as possible, he was able to make it out safety and to continue driving for barely a minute before he pulled into the parking garage of Springwood College. Parking did take him a little longer than he thought, but he managed to snag a spot on the third floor, though it didn't bother him that he was further up from ground level because stairs on a whole were barely an issue for him, being quite fit from playing basketball all those years ago helped his case. After shutting off the engine, he knew that this was it, and he hoped he wouldn't have to think about the dreams for the time he was here unless he absolutely had to.

— — — — —

Doug walked through the doors of Springwood College, briefly looking through his surroundings of this new college. Truthfully, the rush of nervousness pulsated through his veins, but he forced himself to continue on if he wanted to get through this first day of classes. His mind raced as he tried to locate his first class; US History. Though he was much earlier than he anticipated, he preferred it to be that way. He had only three classes today and another two the next day, all back to back.

 _Room 4.18, where is it?_

Turning to a nearby map, he noticed that he was on the first floor and that he had to head to the fourth floor. Now, he had to find the stairs to head up to the floor of where his class was at. At least thinking about where these places could be was enough to keep his mind focused on something other than Freddy, but he dreaded thinking about the dream demon after making it to the classroom.

He turned away from the map then began walking down the busy hall, turning his head left and right, keeping an eye on where the stairs were. He did take notice of four elevators, two each by his right and another two by his left, but he shook his head, not taking much fond of elevators in general as they often made him feel uncomfortable and somewhat trapped.

 _Where are the stairs?_

He slowed his pace just by a bit as he continued looking around for the stairs, though the busy hall made it somewhat harder for him to locate such a sign.

 _Springwood College is bigger than I thought._

Just nearby the end of the hall, the brunette took notice of a sign that easily told him it led to the stairs. A tiny smile appeared on his face as he quickened his pace to head there, knowing that he found it more ideal than taking the elevator. He never had issues with stairs, especially considering how very fit he was, which sparked a thought in his head that if he had to face that monster again, perhaps he would have a higher chance of outrunning the dream demon.

He was so entrapped in his own thoughts that he barely paid attention to where he was going, only stopping when he felt someone's head bump right into his chest. He jumped in surprise, thought already feeling bad for barely noticing what was in front of him, or rather who was in front of him.

"Oh gosh," he gasped, the apologetic tone was evident in his voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. Are you alright?"

The student looked up, her brown eyes directed at Doug's hazel eyes as she pushed her straight auburn hair away from her face, as if she were trying to get a better glimpse at the guy she bumped into. Doug on the other hand noticed the familiar face and he couldn't help but give her a tiny smile.

"Hi, Mallory," he said, still smiling at his sister's best friend. "It's surprising but good to see you again."

Seventeen-year old Mallory chuckled as she elbowed the twenty-year old in the stomach.

"Hey," she said with a cheerful tone in her voice. "How's my best friend's brother?"

"I'm...okay I guess," he replied, though with uncertainty.

She eyed him with concern, noticing the hint of fear and agony in his eyes. Seeing this almost saddened her, as she remembered from her phone call yesterday, the dreams had troubled him.

"Oh, the dreams are troubling you," she concluded.

He nodded before he spoke, however lowering his tone so that only he and Mallory could hear.

"Yes, but there's a lot more to this than any of us realize. Faith and I met a nice group of people yesterday, only to learn that one person from that group of friends is now dead, and the whole town's heading to his funeral, which starts at seven. Even beforehand, Faith and I have made some really crazy discoveries which I don't want to mention here. And I'm positive that tonight, a woman named Maggie Burroughs is coming to my place for information on this thing and for her to hear what Faith and I have to say, concerning our nightmares."

"Maybe we can meet somewhere to talk about this before the funeral," suggested Mallory in an optimistic tone. "It doesn't have to be here, if you don't want."

Doug pondered for a bit, taking this into mind. However, it concerned him that Mallory seemed to want to learn more about Freddy. He was almost positive that his sister was still blaming herself over putting Mallory in danger, but he knew that if Mallory wanted to help him, he had to at least take some time to think about it before even thinking about rejecting such an offer.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'll think about it, but thank you for the offer."

"Anytime," said Mallory. "And I'm sorry to hear about the person who died."

The brunette's expression turned solemn as he nodded, acknowledging Mallory's solemn words. While he knew that Mallory was often the very cheerful one, she was serious when she needed to be.

"I'm going to go and head for class," said Doug at last.

"Me too," said Mallory. "If you do make up your mind, you can text me."

The twenty-year old nodded.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Mallory.

The young man raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering what was Mallory was going to do next, since it was obvious she wasn't going to speak, especially with the way she raised her hand up just a bit. Only a few seconds passed when he looked down a bit, just when she fisted him in the stomach. He jumped in surprise, but chuckled a bit at the sudden hit, though he figured he should've seen it coming, mostly because the auburn-haired teen had often gushed over his looks.

"That's for giving me, my sister, and her boyfriend that hard ass mystery," said Mallory, looking up at him again.

The two laughed before turning to their separate ways. Doug quickly headed for the stairs, feeling a little better after the talk with Mallory. He did like the idea of speaking about his situation with Mallory and decided that once he found exactly where the classroom was, he could text Faith about the plan, as he figured that she would want to join in as well, especially with how much she had suffered in her dreams.

He shuddered at the thought that his sister was going to sleep tonight, but he told himself that he had to stay up for her, and if she was struggling to wake up, he had to make sure to wake her up. He hated that she was given the worst end of the torment, even when she was given it to protect him, maybe it was just the caring big brother in him that made him so worried and scared for her. All he wanted was for her to come out unscathed, but that had clearly failed, and the chances of that disgusting monster hurting her even more, possibly to the point of near death was high.

He finally made it up to the fourth floor and now determined to find where his class was. Stopping by a readable sign, he looked at it carefully in order for him to determine where he was supposed to go.

 _4.10-4.20_

 _Bingo!_

Doug headed down the hall, eyes scanning left and right for the room as he looked for the room number, which he had very little trouble with finding it. There it was by his left, as he walked to the door, trying to open it, but to no avail.

"It's locked," said a voice.

Doug turned to see that it was Chloe, who was leaning against the wall adjacent to the door. There was evident sadness in her eyes, but at the same time, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope shining in them, as if she were being optimistic about something. Doug found it somewhat strange to say the least, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded to her in acknowledgment before walking to her side, hoping to offer her more of his condolences.

"Hey," he said quietly. "How are you doing with everything?"

She was silent for a moment, taking notice of the concerned expression on his face. She gave him a sad smile, though she remembered exactly what she had in mind even after having witnessed the horrors of her brother's death.

"I'm alright," she replied, trying to make her voice sound as convincing as possible. "But I'm trying to stay strong because that would be what my brother would want me to be. I'm even telling myself that I have to survive all of this shit in his honor."

The twenty-year old gave a small smile, though her words almost sounded similar to how he would try to stay strong for his sister. Though he had yet to fully learn more about Chloe, they seemed to be more similar than he thought.

"I'm sure you've been a great big sister to him," he commented.

Chloe's smile grew bigger.

"Thank you, Doug," she said. "I try, even though he can be a pain at times."

The two chuckled, though Doug's chuckle was weaker than Chloe's which the former was sure it was because his mind raced and worried greatly for his sister. He wished he could in a way reach out to her telepathically to ask her if she was okay or if she was still shaken from her dreams. He usually never worried this much about her when it came to starting school, but the dreams had done enough mental damage to him.

Chloe though stopped laughing when she noticed the troubled look in Doug's eyes.

"Are you okay, dude?" she asked, her voice softer than before, almost motherly in nature.

Doug could see the concern on Chloe's face and hearing the soft motherly tone was something he had not expected to hear from her. However, he knew that as long as she knew what the dreams entailed, especially after what she told him yesterday, he would tell her what was wrong.

"In all honesty, everything," he replied slowly, a sense of apprehension building up in his chest, which he didn't know why it came up. "I'm especially worried for my sister. It's not just because she's my little sister, she's been getting the worst of the nightmares."

The twenty-one-year old's eyes softened when she saw his body tense to near rigidness, which she figured was from anguish and worry. She was often good at reading people's body postures and expression, and this case was no different. She almost wanted to ask him why he seemed so worried, but with his already agonized expression and seeing the way his muscles were tensed, she instead placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression soft and kind.

The young man eyed her with surprise, completely not expecting this, but noticing her soft and comforting expression, he relaxed a little bit, and a sad smile appeared on his face. He appreciated how surprisingly kind she seemed to be, as it almost reminded him of how his mother often was, most recently before the dreams after that awful breakup that still haunted him, the event that further triggered his fear of loss.

"I understand," said Chloe. "I kinda felt the same way when Jake was having these dreams. I think a day after, he told me about them. I mean, he'd be scared shitless, and not the funny kind. And I do care for him. Sure, we may fight and stuff, but that doesn't take away the fact that I love him. But yes, I don't blame you for being worried for anyone at all, let alone your sibling. However, you can't let this worry consume you too much. I don't know how preoccupied you were with the dreams, but don't let your fear and worry grow too deeply or else, it could destroy you. My grandmother would tell me that, and that was before I started dating Mark."

Doug didn't speak for a long moment, instead taking the time to let Chloe's words sink in. It didn't take him long to see that she was right, that he'd been so worried recently ever since the nightmares started after moving to Springwood. He smiled again, greatly appreciating her comforting words and knew that his worry was taking him in too deeply. If he didn't try to simmer his racing mind down a bit, he was sure that it would be the ultimate reason why Freddy would kill him, and he couldn't let that happen.

 _I can't let my worries destroy me_ , he thought. _Chloe's right. Despite what I try, I can't believe I've been so worried lately, especially for my sister._

The rest of the waiting period before the professor arrived to unlock the door was silent for Doug, but all he could think was that he hoped these classes for today would distract him from everything. He needed it badly.

— — — — —

The first class Faith had was Spanish III, which she figured wouldn't be too crazy. Anything to distract her head from the dreams for this school day before she would meet up with her brother and discuss the topics with him. The only other times she made a deal in her head to speak of the dreams was with Mandy and maybe anyone else who knew about the dreams and Krueger.

She found herself much earlier than she thought when she finally made it in the classroom. In there were two people; a middle-aged man who appeared to be humming to himself while putting some papers together and a brunette-haired girl sitting in her seat, looking deep in thought.

Faith first turned her direction to the man, paying a little closer attention to what exactly he was humming. The tune itself was beginning to sound almost horrifically familiar as it was indeed Freddy's nursery rhyme.

Faith shuddered as she quietly made her way to a seat, deciding to take a seat next to the brunette by the latter's right. The song that the man was humming was nearly enough to drive her crazy, but she didn't want to run away because she was sure she wasn't daydreaming.

Taking a deep breath, she sat down in her seat then dropped her backpack on the floor beside her just when the brunette girl turned to her, revealing herself to be Mandy. Faith could see that Mandy seemed to have a hint of sadness in her eyes yet also having a glimmer of hope in them.

"Hey," said Mandy with a small smile on her face.

"Hello," replied Faith, trying to make her voice as gentle as possible. "I want to ask you something. How are you doing especially with everything?"

Mandy noticed the soft and sad look in her acquaintance's eyes and her expression showed that she was trying to reach out to her. Mandy couldn't help but widen her smile a bit as the black-haired girl only wanted to lend a hand and try to offer her comfort. Even though she barely knew her, Mandy could tell that Faith was being absolutely genuine and caring, almost reminding her of how her parents usually were.

"I'm alright," replied the brunette honestly. "It's just been hard, and then I had another nightmare of...of _him_."

Faith gave a somber but understanding nod as she knew the other girl was grieving over losing her boyfriend. Faith tried to think hard to search for words to offer Mandy comfort without making herself sound cheesy or creating a cliché kind of reassurance. All she wanted was for Mandy to be okay throughout the entire situation.

"I completely understand," sympathized Faith. "It won't be easy going through this kind of grieving process, but there is something my father would say. Besides your loved ones and friends, time will also heal, and the process can't be rushed. My grandmother would say that going through this is like flipping pages through a book. The next chapter is the next step, but unlike books that must have an end, your situation doesn't have to end so soon or something. It takes a lot of time, but you shouldn't have to be alone in this."

 _Sounds like this girl knows exactly what she's talking about_ , thought Mandy.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'll take that into consideration."

Faith smiled as she took out a notebook and a pencil from her backpack then placed them on her desk. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Mandy, but with the advice she remembered her father and her grandmother mentioning before, it was best to give her it. Her father's advice though was one she remembered very well, mostly on account that she overheard it being used after her brother had come home, heartbroken over a nasty breakup.

"Hey Mandy," she heard someone else's voice, a male voice this time. "How you're doing?"

Faith looked up to see a boy standing by Mandy's desk who looked to be around her age, maybe a little older with brown eyes and black hair. She decided that this wasn't a conversation for her to be involved in, and with her trying everything she could to prevent anyone else from knowing about Freddy, she turned away from them then took out her phone to continue writing a little horror story she made up herself. Though she didn't mind trying to make a new friend, the fear of accidentally spreading the knowledge of Freddy told her against such an idea and that it looked like Mandy was the only one close to a friend here she would get in her situation.

Mandy looked up to see the boy, the very boy she met last year as a freshman, also one of her good friends. She managed to put on a smile despite her thoughts from everything nearly crashing down on her.

"I'm alright," she replied. "Things have been a little rough but I'm hanging in there, thanks Reed."

The boy named Reed nodded as he walked away from the sixteen-year old's seat then picked a spot next to Faith. After tossing his backpack to the floor by his desk, he leaped over a desk in front of Faith, eyes directed at Mandy.

"You've been having bad dreams again?" he asked.

"It's been that way since earlier this month," said Mandy. "And you heard about what happened with Jake?"

Reed completely dropped his smile, eyes widening with shock when he heard this information, which wasn't new to him. He remembered just scrolling away through channels for something to watch when he stopped at the news, which was on the story of the death of Jacob Anderson, his friend's boyfriend. Though Reed had no clue what exactly was happening, even during the previous teen deaths, that didn't mean he couldn't feel bad for Mandy.

"I heard about that," he said quietly. "I'm really sorry, Mandy. You have any idea who's been doing this because I sure as hell ain't got a clue."

Mandy's mind had been too fried from the previous night that she wasn't exactly in her most rational state of mind, that being when she didn't hesitate to answer.

"Freddy Krueger," she said slowly and clearly.

Faith, who had been hearing the conversation between the two, dropped her phone on her desk in horror, knowing that now, another person could very likely be at risk. It reminded her of when she unintentionally told her best friend about Freddy, the thought greatly tormenting her.

"No!" she hissed.

"Yes!"

Faith gasped when she heard the all-too-familiar voice. She turned to her left, seemingly showing that Mandy and Reed were deep in conversation, but for a reason she couldn't exactly pinpoint, she couldn't hear them. She turned her direction to the man who was now standing by the chalk board, writing something, but he covered what he wrote with his free hand.

"Hola, _estudiante_ ," he said, though he didn't turn around to see Faith, Mandy, and Reed. "Here's what we're going to learn in Spanish today."

The way he said this left an unsettling chill down Faith's spine, the delivery of his words sounding too much like how he wanted to make an invitation to anyone sound near at the borderline of creepy. Faith didn't speak, but slowly got up from her seat then slowly backed away. The environment of the classroom was still the same, but the air shifted in a way that made her feel colder than before, and not because someone decided to turn up the air conditioning.

The man then grabbed a sheet of scratched paper, covering his work on the chalkboard with it and taping it down before turning back to his desk. He bent down, hiding his face from Faith's view, but that didn't alleviate Faith's sense of dread.

Faith could hear the sound of a drawer opening, but she didn't want to investigate what was happening. The ambiance didn't feel right to her, and seeing Mandy and Reed still talking to each other, she was certain she was alone, and the thought became painfully terrifying.

"Today is a special day, clase," said the man who got back up on his feet, this time wearing an old brown fedora hat. "I will need a volunteer. Anyone?"

No one answered the man's question. He pulled his sheet of paper away from the chalkboard, followed by a sickening screeching scratch, which lasted for a moment before he pulled a sheet from his desk, still face turned to the chalkboard. It was barely seconds before he spoke again.

"Knight, Faith Natalia? I think you should take this time to volunteer for my little exercise, don't you think?"

Faith didn't answer as she backed away further, only stopping when she bumped into the wall. She peered to the door handle, but the door appeared to be locked. She was trapped in this this classroom and she knew that as long as she was here, she wouldn't be able to escape.

"I'm going to teach you something very important," said the man. "It'll be on your first test. Listen closely."

Once again, Faith did not respond.

"I'm gonna make you _mi_ _perra_!" The man's voice abruptly changed to Freddy Krueger's voice then he turned to Faith, revealing himself to indeed be Freddy, very much on account on his horrible face, his fedora, the twisted smile on his face, and him waving his bladed hand.

On the board, there were two sentences written, one on top and one below the first. Both sentences were written well and clearly.

 _I'm gonna make you mi perra!_

 _I'm gonna make you my bitch!_

"No!" cried Faith.

Freddy Krueger power-walked his way towards the terrified girl, laughing away. He stopped when he was just inches away from her.

"Too late for that, bitch," he said as he placed a bladed finger right at her jawline. "Arriving early to class and daydreaming, huh? But don't worry, I've already picked a fantastic date when I will finally put you to sleep forever. I'm just giving you sneak peeks and previews."

Faith barely had time to react when Freddy shoved her against the wall, causing her to gasp from the impact. He grabbed hold of her left wrist then flicked his tongue with interest for a few moments before he spoke again as he rolled up her sleeve to her elbow.

"Allow me to make myself absolutely clear, Faith."

With that said, he began to scratch letters on the fifteen-year old's arm, causing her to scream in agony as he did so. He laughed, taking absolute interest in her pain, though it didn't take him long to finish what he was doing, and the girl stopped screaming from the pain. After he finished, he tossed her against one of the desks, the evil smile very prominent on his face as he looked down at his dirty work written on Faith's arm.

 _Freddy's Perra_

He then looked at Faith's face, seeing her face was etched with agony. He laughed again, enjoying his torment on her, and he knew he wouldn't and refused to stop.

"Poor little Faith," he chuckled. "What a wretch am I to write such a mean thing, bitch."

"Faith! Faith!"

The teen in question jumped then blinked, noticing that she had been sitting at her desk the whole time. However, what made her situation more insane was that she was surrounded by the worried faces of Mandy, Reed, at least twenty other kids, and even the man.

"Are you okay, señorita?" asked the man, tone full of worry.

Faith nodded slowly, still trying to get her head back into reality. The dream though felt so vivid to her that this daydream had done so much to terrify her. If this was the kind of pain that she received in her dream, who knew how much pain Freddy would put her through, she didn't want to guess.

"I'm sorry Señor..."

"Sanchez," finished the man, showing off his school badge to prove he was the teacher here. "And you don't have to be sorry. Do you need to see a nurse or something?"

"No," replied Faith, her voice quiet firm. "I'll hang in there."

Señor Sanchez didn't look convinced at first, but seeing the certainty on the teen's face, he didn't push her any further and instead, left and headed back to his desk. However, some of the other students didn't change their concerned expressions, especially Reed and Mandy.

"Uh, you may want to take a look at this," said Reed as he rolled up Faith's sleeve.

Faith positioned her palm upward when she saw the words _Freddy's Perra_ written on her arm. She shuddered at the sight of the words written on her arm and a new sense of paranoia hit her, worried that Freddy could potentially do the same kind of torture to her brother.

"Let me get something to cover those wounds," said Mandy as she quickly left her seat to get a few tissues, using them to cover Faith's wounds. "It's not much but it's something."

Faith nodded without a word, hoping to maybe move on a subject away from her wounds and to something that could distract her from the dreams. She gave the remaining people a convincing look to tell them that she was fine and didn't need to explain more. The other students nodded as they retreated to their seats.

The school bell rang, signaling for Señor Sanchez to start class, and Faith desperately hoped she wouldn't daydream again after the one she had just barely minutes ago. She needed this school day to pass by without thinking about the nightmares or anything related to Krueger. She looked down for a moment, taking a careful glance at the locket she was wearing, clutching it for comfort after having suffered from Freddy's handwritten torture.

"Buenas días," said Señor Sanchez. "I'm Señor Sanchez. We'll first take attendance and then we'll have something fun, we'll be watching Frozen in Spanish."

At least half of the class cheered but only Mandy and Faith shook their heads.

"This movie is overrated," complained Mandy to Faith and Reed. "It's boring too, and that song, don't even get me started. Also, I'm damn tired."

"I didn't find it interesting and neither did the rest of my family," said Faith as she let go of her locket then turned to Mandy.

Señor Sanchez began to take attendance, going through the names carefully which allowed the process to run smoothly. Much to his surprise, everyone on his attendance sheet was here and soon after, he asked another student by the name of Blake to drop off the sheet by the attendance office. The Spanish teacher began to set up the projector to show the movie, occasionally having to ask for help from other students who were much more knowledgeable in technology; one of them being Reed. It wasn't long until the movie was set up, though Mandy yawned quietly from both her tiredness from staying up and her boredom of the movie when it was only about to start.

As the movie started and progressed, Mandy was slowly becoming more tired and bored, the movie becoming all too boring for her to bear. Sure, it was interesting to hear it in Spanish, but this movie didn't do much to keep her interest.

 _Ugh_ , she thought, a quiet groan coming from her. _Why do I have to sit through this movie?_

Her eyelids were slowly but surely becoming heavy, but she didn't want to fall asleep now. She had to make it through the rest of her classes and then Jake's funeral.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she turned to Faith, who also looked to be very disinterested in the movie. The latter then pulled out her phone from her purse then began to type on it.

Mandy turned away then let out a heavy sigh. She figured if she closed her eyes for only ten seconds, she'd try to keep herself awake, then maybe she could just either pull out her phone to distract herself or get a chance to doodle random nonsense that came to her mind.

The idea itself sounded good enough to her as she went ahead and closed her eyes, taking slow deep breaths as she tried to get her mind in focus on what she had on hand. She was further liking her idea that seemed to be on hand as she closed her eyes, counting the seconds in her head.

"Mandy?"

The sixteen-year old opened her eyes in surprise when she heard her name be called. She had almost thought it was her teacher calling her name, but that very much wasn't the case, considering it didn't even sound close to being the voice of her teacher, instead sounding more like a male voice rather than a female voice. The thought unsettled her as she pulled out her phone, noticing that the movie was still playing.

"Mandy?"

She put her phone in her pocket as she looked around, wondering if any of them heard the voice. Much to her surprise, no one seemed to be looking around on where the voice was coming from. Her classmates and teacher were all either watching the movie or doing something else, which falling asleep wasn't on the list.

Mandy decided that the voice sounded like it was calling to her, urging her to come to her. Her eyes darted to the front door as she saw what she thought to be one of the most surprising and shocking sights she had ever seen.

There was what appeared to be a body bag and through the sight of a lot of blood, there was a person inside, whose body was almost drenched with blood. Mandy peered out a bit more to get a better glimpse of who exactly she was seeing in the body bag. She blinked once and then the horrifying realization hit her when she saw the familiar face of Jake in the body bag, as he motioned his index finger to tell her to come with him.

 _Is he calling to me? What does he want?_

She never really took much notice in the supernatural nor did she care much for it, but this was a sight she could feel was engraved in her mind. Figuring she had little choice but to leave the classroom, she got up from her seat to leave and once again, not a single person noticed her.

 _I wonder why he's calling me_ , she thought as she made it out of the classroom.

There was Jake by the end of the hall, still in the body bag. He once again motioned her to follow him. She had never felt more confused in her life, but she decided that whatever Jake was leading her to must be important.

"Come here to save my soul," said Jake in a pleading tone. "If you don't, she will along with that other guy."

"The fuck?" muttered Mandy, but she still followed him as an unknown force began to pull him away.

"Wait!" she cried as she began to run this time.

"Hey, Mandy!"

That voice didn't sound like Jake to the girl in question. She stopped then turned back to see an old woman with a serious look on her face but eyes with amusement. Mandy was more than miffed to say the least, especially with how this woman knew her name, but she wondered what the woman would say.

"Kids these days don't learn, do they?" said the woman with clear disappointment in her voice. "You don't even have a hall pass."

"No thank you," hissed Mandy.

"Don't run in the halls, little Mandy." The woman's voice suddenly changed to a familiar figure's voice that Mandy dreaded more than anything.

Mandy said no more as she turned to head down the stairs, which she assumed where Jake was pulled down to. With as much speed as she could muster, she ran down the stairs as she called out to Jake.

"Jake? Jake? Jake!"

There was no response as Mandy finally headed down to the basement of the school. The basement was dark and colder than the rest of the school, sending dark shivers down her spine. She could feel her fast heartbeat as it had been from both running here and from the growing sense of fear she was beginning to feel.

However, she noticed that the body bag that had Jake in it was gone from her sight. This troubled her greatly as she slowed her pace to look around for where the body bag was. As before, there was no sight of a bloody body bag with a person in it.

"Dammit!" groaned Mandy.

What followed was unfamiliar-sounding heavy breathing, just loud enough for her to look up and keep complete determination to find where the sound was coming from. However, a new wave of optimism seemed to make its way through her heart, telling her that Jake could still be around in this basement. She did not call out for Jake, but instead kept quiet, but still wondering where the body bag went.

 _Where is Jake?_

Despite the building fear she was beginning to feel, she kept her expression full of determination to find the body bag that held her boyfriend. She had to find him, preferably fast.

The heavy breathing though did very little to put her mind at ease, as now, she began to feel like she was being followed by an unknown shadow, and things were bound to get worse for her.

The area around her shifted as she suddenly found herself in a new area, the area around her was red everywhere and the air was thick and hot. Smoke hissed around her as sweat began to pour down her face.

 _Shit! It's too damn hot here! The fuck is going on?_

The heavy breathing sound continued as the sixteen-year old brunette slowly made her way down the catwalk. She was beginning to believe that whatever force was pulling Jake and calling her to follow him, was now about to lead her into a trap.

"Wait, stop jumping into conclusions, Amanda!" she scolded to herself. "It looks bad, but it's best to see what's really going on!"

The idea to continue on didn't calm away her fear, but she knew that she had to be as brave as she could. She remembered earlier seeing how much that new girl Faith had gone through, seeing her bandaged up and then another bad wound on her arm at the bookstore yesterday. It seemed that today, Faith put on a brave face, but not completely denying any fears.

Mandy tried to do the same, but she found it harder than she thought. She was terrified indeed as the heavy breathing grew louder than before.

"Oh fuck," she said nervously. "Oh shit, oh fuck, I am so dead."

"You will be in moments, Amanda."

Mandy jumped as she began to back away, beyond terrified at this point. She knew that voice, that monster!

Just after a split second, she could've sworn she almost screamed when she saw the familiar figure from her previous dreams making his way towards her, his fedora tilted downward as if to obscure his face from her sight. The sight of this terrified her more profoundly than seeing his face.

"Oh shit!" she cried as she turned away from him.

She began to run away, hoping for a way out of this terrifying nightmare. Unknown to her, Freddy Krueger began to _run_ after her as he laughed at her.

"Aww, what's wrong, Mandy? You haven't found yourself at peace, have you?" he taunted.

"Fuck you!" screamed Mandy as she continued running away, finally finding some stairs that could lead her somewhere, hopefully back in the school hall.

She quickly ran to the stairs and was halfway up when the area around her shifted again, this time more sharply to the point that she nearly fell. However, she kept her balance steady so that she wouldn't fall. Heavily panting, she regained herself as she ran up the stairs, determined to get the hell out of here.

Much to her relief, she found herself back in the school hall and like before, it was empty. However, she knew she couldn't celebrate so soon.

 _If that bastard followed me, there'll be hell to pay!_

For good measure, she turned to look behind her, eyes widening with horror when she saw the same monster who was barely two feet behind her. His clawed glove was raised as if he were ready to strike and a twisted smile appeared on his face, followed by his maniacal laughter. She instantly regretted turning back as she turned back to the front, running back to head to the classroom where she was before.

She entered in the classroom, panting heavily as she slammed the door shut then locked it, hoping to keep Krueger away from the room. Much to her own surprise, not a single student looked up nor ran up to her with worry. Instead, they were all either watching the movie that was still playing or on their other doings, and no one was asleep.

 _Shit!_

Mandy was still panting when she quickly found her spot, sitting down and now, she could take a moment to recollect herself. She looked up at the screen where the projector was showing the movie; it was showing the scene when those trolls had to tell Ana what she had to do to heal her frozen heart, one of the only parts of the movie she actually remembered from watching it with her family a few times. However, the scene itself did not look close to normal. The scenery surrounding the characters looked darker than before, far too dark. The clouds were very murky and there was a sound of steam hissing around the characters, which the steam appeared to come from the ground which made no sense in this case.

 _What the fuck is going on?_ she wondered, eyes widening with horror.

Ana and the other guy, who Mandy assumed was Krisoff or something like that, she barely remembered his name, had just asked the troll how to mend Ana's frozen heart. Mandy half expected for the typical answer of the true love which always made her laugh because she found the trope incredibly annoying. However, the troll's answer proved to be far more different than she thought, and the voice spoke in English rather than Spanish.

"In order to mend a frozen heart, it can only be done by relaxing and resting your soul away, and then to never wake up again."

The voice didn't sound like the troll's, it sounded very much like Freddy Krueger, who sounded like he was trying way too hard to sound like a soothing therapist. The troll snapped his fingers when a bladed glove appeared on his right hand, ready to strike Ana. Mandy screamed when she saw this, knowing that this wasn't normal, and it wasn't because someone decided to create a demented twist to the movie. She was dreaming, and she knew she had to think quick to attempt to wake herself up or else she would be that much closer to dying. She scrambled through her backpack to find something like a pencil to stab herself, but she dropped her backpack when she saw the screen blackened completely. What made the situation scarier was that the other students around her were still doing exactly what they've done before.

"Oh fuck! Fuck! Wake me up!" she shouted.

"I'm afraid you're spending too much time on panicking and not enough time on relaxing your soul, Amanda."

The teen in question looked at the front door and to her horror, she saw the same man; Freddy Krueger. The smile that was there on his face sent prominent shivers down her spine as she realized that this guy wasn't going to allow him to escape that easily.

"Oh, fuck me," she said, terror etched in her voice.

Freddy slowly walked to his victim; laughter erupted from him before he stopped by Mandy's desk. He stopped laughing as he scratched his bladed finger on her desk. This confused her greatly, as she wondered what was even the point of him taunting her like this besides that she knew about his existence.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, barely hiding tremors in her voice.

"A little warm up to relax your tortured soul," replied Freddy. "I'm doing you a favor, plus it'll be a fun session. Just follow my lead and then you'll be fine."

"Fuck you!" snapped Mandy.

Freddy chuckled at the words, having heard it all too much before. To him, it sounded like she was deliberately trying to piss him off, even though he saw the fear on her face.

"Don't be stubborn, Mandy," he said. "Just relax your soul and then you'll be fine. Just do what I say. Now, close your eyes and reach your arm out and then I'll take your hand. Perhaps a few deep breaths should do the trick, huh?"

Mandy wanted to run away from him so bad, but seeing how brutal he was with his words, she did do what he told her without question. She closed her eyes then reached her arm out forward, wondering how well this would go, which she doubted it would be good for her. The next thing she could feel was the feeling of his blistered hand taking hers, making her sick to her stomach. The next thing she could feel was him pulling her arm, only seconds later was followed by a sickening pop and a burning pain that spread from her shoulder all the way to her fingertips. She didn't hide her scream of agony as the dream demon laughed at his dirty work.

"That's how you relax, you little piggy," he laughed.

Mandy opened her eyes as she held her injured arm, barely able to suppress another scream from the burning pain. She knew what happened, Freddy had attempted to break her arm, and the feeling felt like he was pulling her arm out of its socket, which she assumed he was successful at, given the intense pain she was feeling.

"I will help you with the final step of relaxing your soul," purred Freddy. "Ana should've rested her easy soul to clear away her frozen heart, so I'm going to ease your soul to clear away your pain over Jake. It'll be simple. Meditation my way. Now have your knees on the chair or _silla_ because of course you shouldn't fall asleep in Spanish class, this one's my favorite."

With that said, Mandy could feel an unknown force move her out of her seat and then slam her on her knees on her seat. The aching pain from the impact caused her to groan, already sick of this torment.

"Close your eyes," said Freddy. "And relax your soul."

He didn't even give her a chance to react as he placed his fist on her chest, pushing her down enough that it seemed like he was arching the front of her body. The twisted smile never left her face as he spoke again.

"I wonder how flexible you are, Amanda."

Before Mandy could speak, she heard another sickening snap, followed by an excruciating burning pain on her back and her spine. She didn't hold back her agonized scream as she thought this would be over, knowing that this monster had successfully broken her back. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't as the next thing she felt waves of shooting pain on her abdomen, letting out another scream. She looked down for only a moment, noticing blood pouring down her shirt and Freddy's arm had successfully stabbed her.

 _Fuck me! I'm so dead!_

That was her final thought as Freddy decided to add insult to injury. He bent her back forward as he pulled his hand away from her stomach before picking her up, slamming her back against the desk as he heard her last few breaths.

Mandy knew it was over. She would never get to go to Jake's funeral nor see her parents, friends, and new acquaintances. However, she hadn't expected to go in such a brutal way, as everything around her grew completely white and not a single sound escaped from her throat.

Mandy laid there on her desk, blood pouring out of her stomach and drenched her clothes. Her intestines were instead outside of her body, the edges barely touching the desk.

Freddy laughed at his finished handiwork but knew this wasn't finished yet. He still had plenty of others to get through and he was more than determined to psychologically torment those Knight siblings even further, and with Faith sitting next to Mandy, it further added to the former's mental anguish, enough to amuse Freddy. He kept his eyes directed at Mandy's corpse as he spoke those parting words to her.

"That's how you relax a soul through my meditation, Amanda."

With that said, he waved his hand to Mandy's body, his telekinesis powered on as the glass from the windows shattered, some glass either landing somewhere outside or on the floor in the classroom. With his final dark laugh erupting in the air around him, he turned away from Mandy's corpse, not another word was spoken.


End file.
